argentum_ls (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
argentum_ls) wrote2016-10-09 09:36 pm
argentum_ls) wrote2016-10-09 09:36 pm
Entry tags:
Fest: Yuletide
Dear Yuletide Writer:
First of all, thank you so much for signing up! We already have at least one fandom in common, which is the important part. It's like cake. Cake is my favorite part. I hope the rest of what follows is just frosting.
What follows is a run-down of my likes/dislikes, favorite tropes, and some specific fandom discussion with sentence prompts. Use what you need to, but know that I know that ODAO. You're also welcome to stalk me online. I'm![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
LadySilver AO3, argentum_ls, Argentum_LS on fanfiction.net, and ![[tumblr.com profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
argentum-ls on tumblr. I participate in a lot of exchanges and fests, which means I've thrown a lot of prompts out into the void. Should you see a prompt from a different exchange/fest/generic rambling that you'd like to use, go for it! (Even if it's already been filled).
Everything that follows is a lot of nattering, really. If you're happy with what I put in the sign-up, you prefer to write unprompted, or you have no time for a long letter, then please don't feel obligated to read this. Nothing in here is a demand. As long as you avoid my DNWs, I'll enjoy your story.
This year, I'm requesting three TV shows and a song. I've never requested a song before. I have requested the three shows other times and written in all of them, too, if that matters to you.
The Tomorrow People (2013)
My Secret Identity
Wolfblood
Beyond Metropolis - Shriekback
Overall, what I like in a story is plot; that is, I want something to happen. Beyond that, the reins are pretty loose. I like h/c and whump, angst, drama, humor, casefic, action/adventure, and romance. I'm open to gen, het, slash, poly—though I do have some fandom-specific preferences, which are listed below. I love pairings and I also love strong friendship, sibling, and (pseudo)parent-child relationships. Ratings from G to hard-R are great. Crossovers are fantastic, though not anything I ever expect. I prefer canon based stories or canon-divergent AUs, and I prefer third-person storytelling, though I don't care if it's in past or present tense.
Should you be interested in doing a crossover, Yuletide eligible fandoms this year I'd be interested in are: Now You See Me, 21 Jump Street (TV), Being Human (US), Early Edition, Forever, Forever Knight, Houdini & Doyle, Jake 2.0, Minority Report (TV), My Secret Identity, Quantum Leap, Timeless, The Tomorrow People (1973), The Tomorrow People (1992), The Tomorrow People (2013), VR.5, and Wolfblood. Any chance for my requested characters to bounce off someone else with secrets is one I can't turn down.
Non-Yuletide fandoms I'm open to include: Highlander: the Series, Psych, Leverage, Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
Wants
My favorite trope of all is Secret Identity Revealed/Discovered. The common thread of my TV fandoms is that at least one of the characters has superpowers that s/he/they have to keep secret from the world at large. I love secrets. I love seeing them kept (and the cost that keeping secrets invariably has), threatened, discovered, or revealed. And I love to watch the fallout when it happens.
My second favorite is Trapped!, perhaps because it offers so many potential interpretations that all boil down to the same thing. This can be the characters getting stuck in an avalanche, cave-in, snow storm, hurricane, or any other disaster inspired reason that they have limited resources to deal with and no ability to simply walk away from. Likewise, characters being captured or held hostage, regardless of whether it's physical or psychological bondage that's keeping them there, can be a great way to show how characters act under pressure and/or to bring out sides of their personalities that we don't normally see. Other interpretations are for the characters with an alternate shape to get stuck in their alternate form, or for characters who don't normally have an alternate shape to get stuck in another body (bodyswap, with or without the swap part), to get stuck in the wrong time, to get stuck out-of-sync with everyone else (such as in an alternate universe or on a ghostly plane), or to simply get stuck in circumstances they'd never, ever choose to be in (such as the awkward meet-the-other-family dinner, being a participant in the talent show, or in a vehicle with a person they don't like).
Combine Trapped! with Secret Identity and you're golden. Somehow, the bad situation can only be solved by application of their supernatural state—which would lead to revealing their state to someone who Should. Not. Know.—or the mere circumstances of the entrapment cause the supernatural state to, itself, become the problem, such that the characters have to go to lengths to prevent the supernatural state from manifesting (e.g. if a character teleporting is what will set off the bomb, or stress triggers the powers to act in unusual or extreme ways, such as the character not being able to stop using his super-strength ), or the character needs to hide the manifestation of their powers/state that is triggered by something else in the situation (e.g. fun with full moons), which may require relying on someone who has not yet proven their reliability.
Other things I like:
Running Out of Time!
Unexpected Allies
Lying by Telling the Truth*
Outsider POV
Characters talking about their superpowers/superstate in a way that provides insight into what it means for them.
Friends with Benefits
When two characters believe they're talking about the same thing, but aren't.
Real world situations (e.g. parental-dating, high school is hard, starting college/moving out) complicated by the supernatural
Clever or unusual uses of a character's powers.
Trope inversions
Time travel gone wrong, including time loops, trapped out of time, or characters inadvertently messing up their timelines
*Such as when a character tells the truth about his/her secret in such a way that she/he knows won't be believed. TV Tropes supplies Sarcastic Confession for this, though I prefer when it's played straight.
Do Not Wants:
Crack
Non-canon AUs (including A/B/O, mpreg, and genderbends)
Non con
Permanent main character maiming or death
PWPs (Romance, sexual activity, UST, or sexual tension are all fine as part of a larger story)
E or NC-17 rated sexual material
Extreme jealousy (e.g. a character A mis-interprets something that characters B & C are doing and refuses to address it and/or allow it to be addressed)
Character assassination/bashing
Torture!porn (e.g. the Saw movies)
Incest
Identity headcanons (e.g. trans*, autistic, asexual).
Requested character: Kurt Rundle
The Tomorrow People, in all its variations, is my comfort food show. I've been a fan since the 1973 version and will be a fan of whatever version comes next, no matter what its flaws may be.
The very idea of children and teenagers with something more to offer the world, yet who have to hide what they are from the world for their own safety, speaks powerfully to me. I love that the characters are thrust into situations that they don't have the experience to deal with, yet have the responsibility to take on because their powers make them the only ones who can solve the problems. I love how they are forced to rely on each other, and how although their powers separate them from their family and friends, the Tomorrow People still consider themselves part of the world at large. I also love how they continually have to grapple with the question of whether they are superior to or better than the people they're descended from, and how often the answer is “only in some ways.”
The 2013 show brought us a new generation of characters with the problems of the modern world. Further, while the other versions of the show limited the TP experience to a small and fixed group of people--which is easy to teach and monitor--this one throws the doors open to myriad people, many of whom aren't good people. This would completely change the overall TP experience. I'm really interested in seeing the characters live and function in the 21st century where new breakouts are happening all the time, and CCTV, iPhones, satellites, and social media surround and affect us all whether we want it to or not.
Prompts
ULTRA went around taking the powers from Tomorrow People as punishment for actual criminal behavior or in some kind of preemptive threat-removal. That, of course, is when they weren't simply killing or recruiting the TP. Then there's Kurt, who lost his powers at the hands of the TP themselves. As there's no indication that the power removal serum induced amnesia (except in John's case, but that was clearly a unique situation), presumably the former TP were only keeping quiet about what happened out of fear of reprisal.
What I'm interested in here is a "I used to be a TP" story, especially after the fall of ULTRA. Do any of these people come out of the woodwork to discuss their brief experience with superpowers? Is there a support group? Does an underground business to restore people's powers start? Are there snake oil salesmen who go around promising to "fix" the de-powered? What happens when the de-powered accept the offer? Is there a class action lawsuit?
Since I've requested Kurt, I'd like for any story to focus on his experiences; however, I'm also open to seeing the experiences of former TP OCs whom Kurt may interact with.
I'd also be interested in seeing Kurt reconnect with one of the other Tomorrow People. Maybe Stephen finds him to apologize? Or they run into each other in a college class and have to work together on a project? Maybe Kurt tracks Stephen or Cara down to ask for his powers back after ULTRA is done? Or Kurt's the one who finds Luca after Luca breaks out? Or Kurt encounters John after John's own mindwipe.
All canon characters or OCs who fit the world are welcome in your story. The ones I put in the tag set are Kurt, Stephen, Luca, and Monty the Magnificent, but I'd be happy to see stories with anyone.
Ships
Canon ships are all good. Really, with this show I can pretty much ship anyone with anyone as long as they're over the age of 16, within ~5 years of each other in age, and not incestuous.
NoTP: John/Jedikiah
Requested Characters: Andrew Clements, Kirk Stevens
One of the things I really liked about MSI was that the show was a real world/real high school setting. Andrew had powers, but there was no reason for the powers: no super villains, no prophecy, no great mission. Andrew so desperately wanted to be a superhero, and all he could really manage to be was an awkward teenager with teenage issues and the ability to float, run really fast, and be strong (which were just as often the problem as they were the solution). The police weren’t clamoring for his help, he didn’t masquerade as a vigilante (nor did it go very well when he tried), and the newspapers and public had no knowledge that a superhero lived among them. There’s a great metaphor in all this about the person we are inside and the person we’re allowed to show to others.
Another thing I really liked was how much Andrew fanboyed his own powers. While Ultraman was only mentioned in the first season, I loved that the character even existed. Andrew delighted in being able to do what he could do, and who could blame him? (Well, Dr. J could and did, but that’s beside the point.) Though Andrew did eventually mature a little and calm down (and what did happen to his comic book collection?), I don’t think he ever truly lost the wonder.
Andrew and Kirk are an interesting relationship because they're old friends who don't know much about each other. I think about who I was at 7 and who I was at 16 and how many friendships fell away for good reasons in the intervening years, and it really makes me wonder what makes this friendship tick and why both guys assumed their friendship should just pick up where it left off.
I do ask that the fic be set with Andrew in the 14-20ish age bracket. Him being a teenager/young adult and dealing with the powers is what interests me. If you want to update the year of the setting, that’s fine. I have no particular attachment to 1988-1992. However, I’m not ready for him to grow up and have a family, even if I did.
A lab accident causes Andrew's powers to sometimes leap into Kirk. The boys discover this in the most inopportune way.
Andrew and Kirk (or Cassie) get tied together as part of a class project on trust.
Kirk figures out that Andrew is hiding something from him, but arrives at a plausible yet wrong conclusion that he then proceeds to act on, much to Andrew's confusion. (+ Cassie or Erin)
Kirk needs to help Andrew conceal his powers (+Cassie or Erin). Andrew doesn't know that Kirk knows about his powers.
All canon characters are welcome to help populate your story, as are OCs who fit the world.
Ships
Andrew and Kirk are both shown with girlfriends on the show. Andrew even had one who lasted a couple episodes! Feel free to use them, invent your own, or use Cassie, who is in the tag set. I could also see Andrew/Kirk in an experimenting teens way (Friends with Benefits is on my tropes list), but I don't think they'd want a romantic relationship with each other. Should it be relevant, I'm also good with Stephanie/Dr. J and Erin/OC (once she's old enough to date).
NoTPs: Anyone not listed above.
This show is like someone took this letter and made it manifest. I love that this show is so firmly grounded in the real world, with most of our characters' problems arising from ordinary situations. I love that the characters look out for each other and are willing to go to incredible lengths for each other, but don't always find that to be the easy decision or most rewarded route. I also love how a lot of what's typical for TV characters gets subverted in this show: the popular girl who likes science and is still able to stay the popular girl, the foster kid who lives in a healthy foster home, the teacher who's actually interested in his students' well-being, school kids who actually go to school and who get in trouble when they don't. I also love that the plot arc of every season is all about the Wolfbloods being discovered because that kind of Identity Porn will never fail to please me.
Worldbuilding, with or without the requested characters, is always welcome. I'd love to know more about either wildblood culture or "tame" wolfblood culture. What are their myths and legends? What are the warnings parents give their children (e.g. "your face will freeze like that if you keep scowling")? How do they accomplish practical things like finding someone to marry or deal with work/school schedules that aren't built to accommodate the new or the full moons?
Prompts
Rhydian and Maddy re-discovering each other after Rhydian arrives in Canada.
After leaving Stonybridge, Maddy struggles to adjust to her new life in Canada.
AU where Maddy tells Shannon about Wolfbloods earlier in the first season, under the condition that Maddy only outs herself (and possibly her parents). How would Maddy cope with having this partial truth between them? Would Shannon be satisfied with finding her beast so anti-climatically?
Rhydian's first transformation and aftermath.
School days escapades. Maddy and Rhydian suffering through another extracurricular together on New Moon day. Different reasons why they're trapped at school or on a school activity after sunset on Full Moon night.
In addition to the nominated characters, all other canonical characters are welcome to help populate your story.
Although these prompts are all from series 3 or earlier, I have seen some of series 4 and I am open to stories using those characters/events.
Ships
Maddy/Rhydian or any other canonical ship is fine by me.
NoTP: Jana/Aran
Requested Characters: None, because there aren't any.
I've been listening to this song kind of obsessively since I discovered it a few months ago. The primary draw for me is the word play on the city names. I'd love to know all about those cities. What is Exnovotechnikageopolis, Mescalinomedichemicotopia, Stylolexicartagraphicopolis and any or all of the others? Are they real places? Are they myths? What's the draw of them to the people who live in Metropolis? How do they know about them?
I'm also curious to know about Metropolis. Is this Superman's Metropolis, a generic city name, or a reference to the 1927 movie?
If you'd like to interpret this prompt in fusion with one of my other requests or off my crossovers list, go at it. Original fiction is also more than welcome.
I very much look forward to the work you're going to make. Thank you for signing up!
First of all, thank you so much for signing up! We already have at least one fandom in common, which is the important part. It's like cake. Cake is my favorite part. I hope the rest of what follows is just frosting.
What follows is a run-down of my likes/dislikes, favorite tropes, and some specific fandom discussion with sentence prompts. Use what you need to, but know that I know that ODAO. You're also welcome to stalk me online. I'm
argentum_ls, Argentum_LS on fanfiction.net, and Everything that follows is a lot of nattering, really. If you're happy with what I put in the sign-up, you prefer to write unprompted, or you have no time for a long letter, then please don't feel obligated to read this. Nothing in here is a demand. As long as you avoid my DNWs, I'll enjoy your story.
Requested Fandoms
This year, I'm requesting three TV shows and a song. I've never requested a song before. I have requested the three shows other times and written in all of them, too, if that matters to you.
About Me
Overall, what I like in a story is plot; that is, I want something to happen. Beyond that, the reins are pretty loose. I like h/c and whump, angst, drama, humor, casefic, action/adventure, and romance. I'm open to gen, het, slash, poly—though I do have some fandom-specific preferences, which are listed below. I love pairings and I also love strong friendship, sibling, and (pseudo)parent-child relationships. Ratings from G to hard-R are great. Crossovers are fantastic, though not anything I ever expect. I prefer canon based stories or canon-divergent AUs, and I prefer third-person storytelling, though I don't care if it's in past or present tense.
Should you be interested in doing a crossover, Yuletide eligible fandoms this year I'd be interested in are: Now You See Me, 21 Jump Street (TV), Being Human (US), Early Edition, Forever, Forever Knight, Houdini & Doyle, Jake 2.0, Minority Report (TV), My Secret Identity, Quantum Leap, Timeless, The Tomorrow People (1973), The Tomorrow People (1992), The Tomorrow People (2013), VR.5, and Wolfblood. Any chance for my requested characters to bounce off someone else with secrets is one I can't turn down.
Non-Yuletide fandoms I'm open to include: Highlander: the Series, Psych, Leverage, Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
Tropes
Wants
My favorite trope of all is Secret Identity Revealed/Discovered. The common thread of my TV fandoms is that at least one of the characters has superpowers that s/he/they have to keep secret from the world at large. I love secrets. I love seeing them kept (and the cost that keeping secrets invariably has), threatened, discovered, or revealed. And I love to watch the fallout when it happens.
My second favorite is Trapped!, perhaps because it offers so many potential interpretations that all boil down to the same thing. This can be the characters getting stuck in an avalanche, cave-in, snow storm, hurricane, or any other disaster inspired reason that they have limited resources to deal with and no ability to simply walk away from. Likewise, characters being captured or held hostage, regardless of whether it's physical or psychological bondage that's keeping them there, can be a great way to show how characters act under pressure and/or to bring out sides of their personalities that we don't normally see. Other interpretations are for the characters with an alternate shape to get stuck in their alternate form, or for characters who don't normally have an alternate shape to get stuck in another body (bodyswap, with or without the swap part), to get stuck in the wrong time, to get stuck out-of-sync with everyone else (such as in an alternate universe or on a ghostly plane), or to simply get stuck in circumstances they'd never, ever choose to be in (such as the awkward meet-the-other-family dinner, being a participant in the talent show, or in a vehicle with a person they don't like).
Combine Trapped! with Secret Identity and you're golden. Somehow, the bad situation can only be solved by application of their supernatural state—which would lead to revealing their state to someone who Should. Not. Know.—or the mere circumstances of the entrapment cause the supernatural state to, itself, become the problem, such that the characters have to go to lengths to prevent the supernatural state from manifesting (e.g. if a character teleporting is what will set off the bomb, or stress triggers the powers to act in unusual or extreme ways, such as the character not being able to stop using his super-strength ), or the character needs to hide the manifestation of their powers/state that is triggered by something else in the situation (e.g. fun with full moons), which may require relying on someone who has not yet proven their reliability.
Other things I like:
*Such as when a character tells the truth about his/her secret in such a way that she/he knows won't be believed. TV Tropes supplies Sarcastic Confession for this, though I prefer when it's played straight.
Do Not Wants:
The Tomorrow People (2013)
Requested character: Kurt Rundle
The Tomorrow People, in all its variations, is my comfort food show. I've been a fan since the 1973 version and will be a fan of whatever version comes next, no matter what its flaws may be.
The very idea of children and teenagers with something more to offer the world, yet who have to hide what they are from the world for their own safety, speaks powerfully to me. I love that the characters are thrust into situations that they don't have the experience to deal with, yet have the responsibility to take on because their powers make them the only ones who can solve the problems. I love how they are forced to rely on each other, and how although their powers separate them from their family and friends, the Tomorrow People still consider themselves part of the world at large. I also love how they continually have to grapple with the question of whether they are superior to or better than the people they're descended from, and how often the answer is “only in some ways.”
The 2013 show brought us a new generation of characters with the problems of the modern world. Further, while the other versions of the show limited the TP experience to a small and fixed group of people--which is easy to teach and monitor--this one throws the doors open to myriad people, many of whom aren't good people. This would completely change the overall TP experience. I'm really interested in seeing the characters live and function in the 21st century where new breakouts are happening all the time, and CCTV, iPhones, satellites, and social media surround and affect us all whether we want it to or not.
Prompts
ULTRA went around taking the powers from Tomorrow People as punishment for actual criminal behavior or in some kind of preemptive threat-removal. That, of course, is when they weren't simply killing or recruiting the TP. Then there's Kurt, who lost his powers at the hands of the TP themselves. As there's no indication that the power removal serum induced amnesia (except in John's case, but that was clearly a unique situation), presumably the former TP were only keeping quiet about what happened out of fear of reprisal.
What I'm interested in here is a "I used to be a TP" story, especially after the fall of ULTRA. Do any of these people come out of the woodwork to discuss their brief experience with superpowers? Is there a support group? Does an underground business to restore people's powers start? Are there snake oil salesmen who go around promising to "fix" the de-powered? What happens when the de-powered accept the offer? Is there a class action lawsuit?
Since I've requested Kurt, I'd like for any story to focus on his experiences; however, I'm also open to seeing the experiences of former TP OCs whom Kurt may interact with.
I'd also be interested in seeing Kurt reconnect with one of the other Tomorrow People. Maybe Stephen finds him to apologize? Or they run into each other in a college class and have to work together on a project? Maybe Kurt tracks Stephen or Cara down to ask for his powers back after ULTRA is done? Or Kurt's the one who finds Luca after Luca breaks out? Or Kurt encounters John after John's own mindwipe.
All canon characters or OCs who fit the world are welcome in your story. The ones I put in the tag set are Kurt, Stephen, Luca, and Monty the Magnificent, but I'd be happy to see stories with anyone.
Ships
Canon ships are all good. Really, with this show I can pretty much ship anyone with anyone as long as they're over the age of 16, within ~5 years of each other in age, and not incestuous.
NoTP: John/Jedikiah
My Secret Identity
Requested Characters: Andrew Clements, Kirk Stevens
One of the things I really liked about MSI was that the show was a real world/real high school setting. Andrew had powers, but there was no reason for the powers: no super villains, no prophecy, no great mission. Andrew so desperately wanted to be a superhero, and all he could really manage to be was an awkward teenager with teenage issues and the ability to float, run really fast, and be strong (which were just as often the problem as they were the solution). The police weren’t clamoring for his help, he didn’t masquerade as a vigilante (nor did it go very well when he tried), and the newspapers and public had no knowledge that a superhero lived among them. There’s a great metaphor in all this about the person we are inside and the person we’re allowed to show to others.
Another thing I really liked was how much Andrew fanboyed his own powers. While Ultraman was only mentioned in the first season, I loved that the character even existed. Andrew delighted in being able to do what he could do, and who could blame him? (Well, Dr. J could and did, but that’s beside the point.) Though Andrew did eventually mature a little and calm down (and what did happen to his comic book collection?), I don’t think he ever truly lost the wonder.
Andrew and Kirk are an interesting relationship because they're old friends who don't know much about each other. I think about who I was at 7 and who I was at 16 and how many friendships fell away for good reasons in the intervening years, and it really makes me wonder what makes this friendship tick and why both guys assumed their friendship should just pick up where it left off.
I do ask that the fic be set with Andrew in the 14-20ish age bracket. Him being a teenager/young adult and dealing with the powers is what interests me. If you want to update the year of the setting, that’s fine. I have no particular attachment to 1988-1992. However, I’m not ready for him to grow up and have a family, even if I did.
All canon characters are welcome to help populate your story, as are OCs who fit the world.
Ships
Andrew and Kirk are both shown with girlfriends on the show. Andrew even had one who lasted a couple episodes! Feel free to use them, invent your own, or use Cassie, who is in the tag set. I could also see Andrew/Kirk in an experimenting teens way (Friends with Benefits is on my tropes list), but I don't think they'd want a romantic relationship with each other. Should it be relevant, I'm also good with Stephanie/Dr. J and Erin/OC (once she's old enough to date).
NoTPs: Anyone not listed above.
Wolfblood
This show is like someone took this letter and made it manifest. I love that this show is so firmly grounded in the real world, with most of our characters' problems arising from ordinary situations. I love that the characters look out for each other and are willing to go to incredible lengths for each other, but don't always find that to be the easy decision or most rewarded route. I also love how a lot of what's typical for TV characters gets subverted in this show: the popular girl who likes science and is still able to stay the popular girl, the foster kid who lives in a healthy foster home, the teacher who's actually interested in his students' well-being, school kids who actually go to school and who get in trouble when they don't. I also love that the plot arc of every season is all about the Wolfbloods being discovered because that kind of Identity Porn will never fail to please me.
Worldbuilding, with or without the requested characters, is always welcome. I'd love to know more about either wildblood culture or "tame" wolfblood culture. What are their myths and legends? What are the warnings parents give their children (e.g. "your face will freeze like that if you keep scowling")? How do they accomplish practical things like finding someone to marry or deal with work/school schedules that aren't built to accommodate the new or the full moons?
Prompts
In addition to the nominated characters, all other canonical characters are welcome to help populate your story.
Although these prompts are all from series 3 or earlier, I have seen some of series 4 and I am open to stories using those characters/events.
Ships
Maddy/Rhydian or any other canonical ship is fine by me.
NoTP: Jana/Aran
Beyond Metropolis
Requested Characters: None, because there aren't any.
I've been listening to this song kind of obsessively since I discovered it a few months ago. The primary draw for me is the word play on the city names. I'd love to know all about those cities. What is Exnovotechnikageopolis, Mescalinomedichemicotopia, Stylolexicartagraphicopolis and any or all of the others? Are they real places? Are they myths? What's the draw of them to the people who live in Metropolis? How do they know about them?
I'm also curious to know about Metropolis. Is this Superman's Metropolis, a generic city name, or a reference to the 1927 movie?
If you'd like to interpret this prompt in fusion with one of my other requests or off my crossovers list, go at it. Original fiction is also more than welcome.
I very much look forward to the work you're going to make. Thank you for signing up!