dear yuletide writer 2016
Oct. 9th, 2016 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fandomonymousHi writer! You're the best in advance, you should know that.
Option details are optional in ALL OF THESE, OF COURSE, but let's talk preferences/Do Not Wants, mostly copy-pasted from past Yuletides: I like fic of all kinds of tones with all kinds of tropes! I lean heavily towards filling in canon/worldbuilding and you'll see that in my prompts; I prefer my AUs milder (slightly changed canons), though I acknowledge the FiveThirtyEight prompt is asking for weirdness/silliness.
I particularly love exploring a character's feelings and reasons behind what they do (especially if it's one character examining another - there's a reason I write in limited third person a lot), found families and other bonded groups of choice, snappy dialogue, showcases of competence, resolved sexual tension, and watching characters finally relax and become comfortable in themselves.
I also like porn, with basically any gender mix, though I think this only really applies for my IBO prompt this year. (Okay, or Bayern. I'm shameless, okay.) For Yuleporn, some kinks I'm particularly into, though any smut that doesn't have my Do Not Wants is good smut by my estimation: half-clothed/messing with clothing, especially formalwear; coaxing someone into becoming more vocal; playful non-humiliating gender bending; pegging; bondage, especially with rope or improvised restraints; sneaky sex in places that will be public at a later point, while not getting caught (empty locker rooms or classrooms or the like; I would inject this kink into my veins if I could); more than two people, as long as everyone's having fun.
EDIT OCT 11: I also like IF (link to the opt-in comment), and could see that working well for DCSS, Garden of Forking Paths, or 538. I'm more familiar with CYOAs, but work well either way.
A few do not want things: humiliation, rape/non-con, infidelity (very different from consensual polyamory, which is TOTALLY COOL!), scat, significant pain (some friendly smacks on the ass are welcome, though!), watersports, non-period blood, more deaths than are already in the canons involved, underage/enormous age difference sex, drug usage (legal alcohol usage is okay though).
Okay. Onwards!
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup
Play! | ChaosForge wiki | Henzell mini-wiki
I like roguelikes so much I ran a convention about them, and of those roguelikes, DCSS is my favorite. I am spoiled on everything and absolutely terrible at this game. An extended/dramatized Yet Another Victory Post/Yet Another Sad Death would be lots of fun to read. So would the internal logic of any god/unique. Go wild! Crossovers with other roguelikes, while not necessary, are certainly well understood and well appreciated. I don't see where AUs would fit here, but if you have an idea burning within your heart, go with Makhleb. ;)
Yup, I really ran a convention about roguelikes. And I brought up last year's Nethack Yuletide fanfic, which I love. I love the combination of thought and unpredictability they provide, and I love the vastness yet weird cohesion of DCSS' lore. Plus mechanically, DCSS is just an incredibly well made game, and designed to be so in a way that really jives with me. There's really a lot possible here, and I'd love it all.
***
Gundam IBO, Amida
Watch on Daisuki (may be paywall) | Scheduled showtimes on Adult Swim (IBO is on "Saturday night"/Sunday morning 0100 Eastern) | GundamInfo | Subreddit
The Turbines were my favorite part of IBO, full of unrealized potential. I love that their style of polyamory seems pretty close to healthy, though we know so little of the ladies' lives it's hard to say. Of the ladies we hear from, Amida is my favorite. She's clearly been part of Naze's life forever and is deeply respected by the others, but we know so little about her as her own person, and I'd love to fill in those blanks. Where did she get her scar? Why did she get involved with the mafia? How did she learn to pilot? How did she meet Naze, what was their courtship like, what was it like when the other ladies started coming into the Hammerhead?
I acknowledge IBO is a fairly dark universe, but I'd like to keep her alive and not read any graphic rape. Some degree of injury is kinda par for the course as a mecha pilot, but let's not make it too gratuitous.
Consensual smut is COMPLETELY REASONABLE here, though also completely unnecessary! Naze is the obvious choice, and I love him, so that would be fun. If you're hunting for less obvious pairings, any of the other Turbines would be perfectly understandable. I'm comfortable with anyone else in the series of close-enough-to-appropriate age. (Orga would be pushing it. So would Barriston. But if you can sell it to me, go wild.) Playful D/s dynamics (in either direction) would be spectacular (though I think Dom!Amida makes more sense to me personally), pegging is fun, playful crossdressing is my jam, polyamory/more-than-two-somes are great, I'm pretty sure her being a slight exhibitionist is canon and that delights me.
AU perfectly fine here, including in other Gundam universes! I'm weird, and love both the super-serious entries from UC (08th MS Team! Thunderbolt! Victory!) and, like, the first season of Build Fighters. (...Okay, a IBO/GBF Season 1 crossover where someone acknowledges that Naze and Fellini are the same goddamn person would delight me, but that is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY, and I would still prefer something Amida-centric if possible. Hell, Amida-centric in Build Fighters would be just gravy!)
Iron-Blooded Orphans is one of those glorious problematic-fave fandoms, as any good Gundam series should be. I particularly love the Turbines, a group within a larger mafia family. They're adults in a series about children, and their maturity shows.
They're also one man (Naze) and a whole lot of women. It's played off a little bit as a harem, but there are scenes that imply it's actually pretty seriously considered - Naze is apologetic when his work cuts into his time helping the ladies out, they help each other personally and professionally, and I dunno, it just felt like a surprisingly positive take on polyamory when it could have gone so poorly.
Amida is labeled the "first wife"; the other women clearly look up to her and call her 'big sister', and she's the one who gets to be by Naze's side in major negotiations. But she's also clearly got more past than we got to know at least in Season 1, and I want to read it ALL. Including the smut, because hot /damn/. (I promise I will be caught up with whatever's out of S2 by Yuletide.)
Or, you know, Build Fighters AU, because goddamnit I love everything that ridiculous show chooses to be.
***
Garden of Forking Paths, Ts'ui Pen
Story link | Wikipedia
This story really shook me when I read it earlier this year. It's ostensibly a historical spy thriller (and it actually does that decently, though its age shows), but really, it's about creativity, perceptions of infinity, and fate in the best way.
It made me so curious as to the 'writing'/'constructing' process of Ts'ui. What was he like before creating the labyrinth/book? What were his dreams for it? Who was he hoping would find it? What other forks did he create or intend to create?
While I'd most appreciate exploring the 'author' of the Garden, I'm fine with any other non-AU you'd be willing to explore.
This was apparently the year I got back into Reading Like An Educated Adult (thanks, PartnerBeast!), and Labyrinths has been a story collection I've been digging enthusiastically into. This particular story really stuck with me, its thoughts on fate and death and time, and I'm a sucker for East Asians making spaces for themselves in foreign lands. So yeah! There's so much here and I'd love to see it all.
***
FiveThirtyEight
Site link
...I didn't even realize I wanted this until I saw it in the taglist.
Look, I'm a statistician for a living, I used to teach mathematics, I practically preach 538 as gospel but I know that this election has driven everyone off a cliff. I don't know what I want other than the fact that I want this fandom to be a thing. I fully anticipate utter silliness in the tradition of NPR Yuletide fic, but really, go where your heart desires.
Personal favorite posts have been scientists not getting p-values right: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/not-even-scientists-can-easily-explain-p-values/ the Riddler: http://fivethirtyeight.com/tag/the-riddler/ and the Burrito Bracket: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/can-crowdsourcing-tell-us-whether-a-burrito-is-any-good/ But I follow the politics too, of course, and would love to hang out in the 538 Slack. <3
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH GODDAMNIT MY FAVORITE BLOG. I get a disgusting amount of my news from 538, I love everyone in this goddamn masthead, a part of me deeply wants to work for them, Nate Silver's The Signal and the Noise is one of my favorite books... I'm really inspired by data journalism and the thoughtfulness of 538, flawed though it may be, and just am so grateful to know others are appreciating what they do. I feel like this is the perfect place for silliness ala NPR fanfic, but I'm sure there's space for more things too.
***
Bayern RPF, Phillip Lahm
What a deeply fantastic, complex, and amazing person and footballer Philipp Lahm is: how does it feel to finally lead the NT to win the World Cup after so many near-misses, and why leave it before one last chance at Euros? What went on behind the scenes during the whole captaincy handover in 2010 (either NT or Bayern)? What led him to write The Subtle Difference, and what was sharing those feelings like? What was it like to start on the team you've been admiring your whole life? How did coming so close yet so far on a number of Champion's League attempts feel, and how was it when the treble finally came to pass? What has interacting with all the different managers been like? Why hasn't he left when other teams have come calling? How does it feel to watch so many NT players join Bayern with mixed success, when it's his home team and he defends it (in so many senses!) so well?
I'd be fine with Yuleporn here too, or non-Yuleporn romance - either with his wife Claudia, or any number of NT players. (And even if you go the slash route, please don't bash Claudia or any partners the others may have! I'd personally prefer the "consensual polyamory" route, though the "WAGs don't exist here" AU is cool too.) I've been in the fandom long enough to remember that Timo Hildebrand exists, and also how that all horribly went wrong, and I'm always up for hearing more about this. I'd be also more than fine with messing with the fantastically complex relationship that is Philipp with Michael Ballack, or the wonderful co-captaincy and deep understanding that is Philipp with Bastian Schewinsteiger. And how did Basti leaving Bayern affect Philipp? Or for that matter, how about Andi Ottl, his "one friend in football" who had a markedly different career trajectory?
Alternately, AU is great here too. I've already gotten college and bakery AUs before, but well, alternate perspectives are always great and other AUs are welcome.
My following of footie goes in waves, but I'm basically as familiar with his entire trajectory as a non-German speaker can be. Feel free to include any and every bit of knowledge you've got, including The Subtle Difference.
This is basically a rehash of past Yuletides. Go there for details. I couldn't resist, I'm sorry.
Option details are optional in ALL OF THESE, OF COURSE, but let's talk preferences/Do Not Wants, mostly copy-pasted from past Yuletides: I like fic of all kinds of tones with all kinds of tropes! I lean heavily towards filling in canon/worldbuilding and you'll see that in my prompts; I prefer my AUs milder (slightly changed canons), though I acknowledge the FiveThirtyEight prompt is asking for weirdness/silliness.
I particularly love exploring a character's feelings and reasons behind what they do (especially if it's one character examining another - there's a reason I write in limited third person a lot), found families and other bonded groups of choice, snappy dialogue, showcases of competence, resolved sexual tension, and watching characters finally relax and become comfortable in themselves.
I also like porn, with basically any gender mix, though I think this only really applies for my IBO prompt this year. (Okay, or Bayern. I'm shameless, okay.) For Yuleporn, some kinks I'm particularly into, though any smut that doesn't have my Do Not Wants is good smut by my estimation: half-clothed/messing with clothing, especially formalwear; coaxing someone into becoming more vocal; playful non-humiliating gender bending; pegging; bondage, especially with rope or improvised restraints; sneaky sex in places that will be public at a later point, while not getting caught (empty locker rooms or classrooms or the like; I would inject this kink into my veins if I could); more than two people, as long as everyone's having fun.
EDIT OCT 11: I also like IF (link to the opt-in comment), and could see that working well for DCSS, Garden of Forking Paths, or 538. I'm more familiar with CYOAs, but work well either way.
A few do not want things: humiliation, rape/non-con, infidelity (very different from consensual polyamory, which is TOTALLY COOL!), scat, significant pain (some friendly smacks on the ass are welcome, though!), watersports, non-period blood, more deaths than are already in the canons involved, underage/enormous age difference sex, drug usage (legal alcohol usage is okay though).
Okay. Onwards!
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup
Play! | ChaosForge wiki | Henzell mini-wiki
I like roguelikes so much I ran a convention about them, and of those roguelikes, DCSS is my favorite. I am spoiled on everything and absolutely terrible at this game. An extended/dramatized Yet Another Victory Post/Yet Another Sad Death would be lots of fun to read. So would the internal logic of any god/unique. Go wild! Crossovers with other roguelikes, while not necessary, are certainly well understood and well appreciated. I don't see where AUs would fit here, but if you have an idea burning within your heart, go with Makhleb. ;)
Yup, I really ran a convention about roguelikes. And I brought up last year's Nethack Yuletide fanfic, which I love. I love the combination of thought and unpredictability they provide, and I love the vastness yet weird cohesion of DCSS' lore. Plus mechanically, DCSS is just an incredibly well made game, and designed to be so in a way that really jives with me. There's really a lot possible here, and I'd love it all.
***
Gundam IBO, Amida
Watch on Daisuki (may be paywall) | Scheduled showtimes on Adult Swim (IBO is on "Saturday night"/Sunday morning 0100 Eastern) | GundamInfo | Subreddit
The Turbines were my favorite part of IBO, full of unrealized potential. I love that their style of polyamory seems pretty close to healthy, though we know so little of the ladies' lives it's hard to say. Of the ladies we hear from, Amida is my favorite. She's clearly been part of Naze's life forever and is deeply respected by the others, but we know so little about her as her own person, and I'd love to fill in those blanks. Where did she get her scar? Why did she get involved with the mafia? How did she learn to pilot? How did she meet Naze, what was their courtship like, what was it like when the other ladies started coming into the Hammerhead?
I acknowledge IBO is a fairly dark universe, but I'd like to keep her alive and not read any graphic rape. Some degree of injury is kinda par for the course as a mecha pilot, but let's not make it too gratuitous.
Consensual smut is COMPLETELY REASONABLE here, though also completely unnecessary! Naze is the obvious choice, and I love him, so that would be fun. If you're hunting for less obvious pairings, any of the other Turbines would be perfectly understandable. I'm comfortable with anyone else in the series of close-enough-to-appropriate age. (Orga would be pushing it. So would Barriston. But if you can sell it to me, go wild.) Playful D/s dynamics (in either direction) would be spectacular (though I think Dom!Amida makes more sense to me personally), pegging is fun, playful crossdressing is my jam, polyamory/more-than-two-somes are great, I'm pretty sure her being a slight exhibitionist is canon and that delights me.
AU perfectly fine here, including in other Gundam universes! I'm weird, and love both the super-serious entries from UC (08th MS Team! Thunderbolt! Victory!) and, like, the first season of Build Fighters. (...Okay, a IBO/GBF Season 1 crossover where someone acknowledges that Naze and Fellini are the same goddamn person would delight me, but that is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY, and I would still prefer something Amida-centric if possible. Hell, Amida-centric in Build Fighters would be just gravy!)
Iron-Blooded Orphans is one of those glorious problematic-fave fandoms, as any good Gundam series should be. I particularly love the Turbines, a group within a larger mafia family. They're adults in a series about children, and their maturity shows.
They're also one man (Naze) and a whole lot of women. It's played off a little bit as a harem, but there are scenes that imply it's actually pretty seriously considered - Naze is apologetic when his work cuts into his time helping the ladies out, they help each other personally and professionally, and I dunno, it just felt like a surprisingly positive take on polyamory when it could have gone so poorly.
Amida is labeled the "first wife"; the other women clearly look up to her and call her 'big sister', and she's the one who gets to be by Naze's side in major negotiations. But she's also clearly got more past than we got to know at least in Season 1, and I want to read it ALL. Including the smut, because hot /damn/. (I promise I will be caught up with whatever's out of S2 by Yuletide.)
Or, you know, Build Fighters AU, because goddamnit I love everything that ridiculous show chooses to be.
***
Garden of Forking Paths, Ts'ui Pen
Story link | Wikipedia
This story really shook me when I read it earlier this year. It's ostensibly a historical spy thriller (and it actually does that decently, though its age shows), but really, it's about creativity, perceptions of infinity, and fate in the best way.
It made me so curious as to the 'writing'/'constructing' process of Ts'ui. What was he like before creating the labyrinth/book? What were his dreams for it? Who was he hoping would find it? What other forks did he create or intend to create?
While I'd most appreciate exploring the 'author' of the Garden, I'm fine with any other non-AU you'd be willing to explore.
This was apparently the year I got back into Reading Like An Educated Adult (thanks, PartnerBeast!), and Labyrinths has been a story collection I've been digging enthusiastically into. This particular story really stuck with me, its thoughts on fate and death and time, and I'm a sucker for East Asians making spaces for themselves in foreign lands. So yeah! There's so much here and I'd love to see it all.
***
FiveThirtyEight
Site link
...I didn't even realize I wanted this until I saw it in the taglist.
Look, I'm a statistician for a living, I used to teach mathematics, I practically preach 538 as gospel but I know that this election has driven everyone off a cliff. I don't know what I want other than the fact that I want this fandom to be a thing. I fully anticipate utter silliness in the tradition of NPR Yuletide fic, but really, go where your heart desires.
Personal favorite posts have been scientists not getting p-values right: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/not-even-scientists-can-easily-explain-p-values/ the Riddler: http://fivethirtyeight.com/tag/the-riddler/ and the Burrito Bracket: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/can-crowdsourcing-tell-us-whether-a-burrito-is-any-good/ But I follow the politics too, of course, and would love to hang out in the 538 Slack. <3
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH GODDAMNIT MY FAVORITE BLOG. I get a disgusting amount of my news from 538, I love everyone in this goddamn masthead, a part of me deeply wants to work for them, Nate Silver's The Signal and the Noise is one of my favorite books... I'm really inspired by data journalism and the thoughtfulness of 538, flawed though it may be, and just am so grateful to know others are appreciating what they do. I feel like this is the perfect place for silliness ala NPR fanfic, but I'm sure there's space for more things too.
***
Bayern RPF, Phillip Lahm
What a deeply fantastic, complex, and amazing person and footballer Philipp Lahm is: how does it feel to finally lead the NT to win the World Cup after so many near-misses, and why leave it before one last chance at Euros? What went on behind the scenes during the whole captaincy handover in 2010 (either NT or Bayern)? What led him to write The Subtle Difference, and what was sharing those feelings like? What was it like to start on the team you've been admiring your whole life? How did coming so close yet so far on a number of Champion's League attempts feel, and how was it when the treble finally came to pass? What has interacting with all the different managers been like? Why hasn't he left when other teams have come calling? How does it feel to watch so many NT players join Bayern with mixed success, when it's his home team and he defends it (in so many senses!) so well?
I'd be fine with Yuleporn here too, or non-Yuleporn romance - either with his wife Claudia, or any number of NT players. (And even if you go the slash route, please don't bash Claudia or any partners the others may have! I'd personally prefer the "consensual polyamory" route, though the "WAGs don't exist here" AU is cool too.) I've been in the fandom long enough to remember that Timo Hildebrand exists, and also how that all horribly went wrong, and I'm always up for hearing more about this. I'd be also more than fine with messing with the fantastically complex relationship that is Philipp with Michael Ballack, or the wonderful co-captaincy and deep understanding that is Philipp with Bastian Schewinsteiger. And how did Basti leaving Bayern affect Philipp? Or for that matter, how about Andi Ottl, his "one friend in football" who had a markedly different career trajectory?
Alternately, AU is great here too. I've already gotten college and bakery AUs before, but well, alternate perspectives are always great and other AUs are welcome.
My following of footie goes in waves, but I'm basically as familiar with his entire trajectory as a non-German speaker can be. Feel free to include any and every bit of knowledge you've got, including The Subtle Difference.
This is basically a rehash of past Yuletides. Go there for details. I couldn't resist, I'm sorry.