argentum_ls | Fests: Yuletide Letter (Reply)

yuletide is here!

Dear Yuletide Writer:

Thank you so much for participating and for writing in the fandoms I love. This is my first year, so it’s especially exciting to think that someone is writing a story for me. No matter what you write, you’re going to make this someone very happy.

Loves

I love plot. I love characters with superpowers having to struggle with the pleasant and unpleasant consequences of having those powers. I love when superpowers are used as veiled metaphors for other characteristics that struggle to find acceptance in society. And I love when they aren’t, because sometimes superpowers are just fun. I love when characters struggle to control themselves (for whatever reason) and when and why they fail or succeed or have to compromise. I love when characters have to keep secrets, try to keep secrets, and get called on for keeping secrets. I love emotional intensity, when characters feel much stronger than is generally acknowledged, and I love when they get to (or have to) act on that intensity. While I tend to be a gen writer, I’ll read gen or het or slash. In regards to slash, I really love when two same sex friend characters have a friendship that’s so deep and so intense that maybe sometimes the line is crossed, but that never changes (though it might challenge) the overall friendship. I also love crossovers as long as the characters don’t give in to exchanging their secrets without earning it. I enjoy hurt/comfort, schmoop, angst, drama, humor, and friendship fics (but not all at the same time). I’m also perfectly fine with OCs and outsider POVs.

Dislikes & Caveats

I don’t like anger or yelling or humiliation, though I can deal with the first two in moderation as a plot may require. I don’t like character assassination or bashing. I’m pretty vanilla with my kinks, so you’re better off staying away from the more, er, kinky ones. Though, I do have a thing for fictional characters in pain if that pain is the result of their superpowers and if the consequences of that are dealt with. Go figure. Consensual relationships only, please. I’m OK with implied consent in established relationships. If you write something with sex, I would greatly prefer to read about oral sex, manual sex, or frottage instead of anal sex. AUs are fine, but please stay away from cracky ones. Please no character death.

Fandoms

Here’s the hard-to-work-with part: I’m a one fandom gal right now. If you were matched with me for a fandom other than my current main one, that’s OK, I am totally going to love what you write. You’re just not going to get as much information to work with and my journal isn't going to be any help at all. Sorry. :(

MAIN FANDOM - Teen Wolf -- I love Scott. I know he’s sometimes whiny and dumb and so very sixteen, but I love him because of that, not despite it. I don’t see him as an idiot or a terrible friend, like much of the fandom does, but as a normal, quiet, teenager who has been completely overwhelmed by the fact that his greatest dreams and worst nightmares all came true at the same time for the same reason and he doesn’t know how to deal with it all. I like Jackson. He’s an ass, but I’m fascinated by his motivations, especially as he tries to become a werewolf. (Secretly, I hope he fails in this quest, since I think his search for power is more interesting than him achieving it). I think he and Scott have amazing UST. I don’t like Derek. I find the fan portrayal of him often runs to the one-note "bad boy" side, and I just don’t have a taste for bad boys.

I really will take pretty much anything except Derek/Stiles, and I’d be even happier if Derek weren’t in the story at all. Scott/Allison, Scott+Stiles bromance (see above about friendship intensity), and Scott/+Jackson hate!fic are all wins. I’m curious to see how a Scott/Stiles/Allison story would work, but I’m also happy to have Scott+Stiles+Allison. I’d prefer to keep Jackson, Danny, and Lydia human (and the latter two ignorant of werewolves at the story’s opening), but do what you feel is necessary. Also, I like all the other characters (except Derek), so if you want to throw Melissa or Coach or Greenberg into a story, have at it. It’s worth noting that where I am in the world, Scott and Allison are both legal.

SECONDARY FANDOM -- The Listener -- Toby. Please Toby. Telepathy rocks my world. I also like Oz, because he’s so shameless about misusing Toby’s power for his own good, but he’s also a supportive and trustworthy friend. Toby+Oz are a winning combination. I’m sad that the second season of the show ignored Toby’s search for his past and his mother, so stories that dealt with that would be interesting. But Toby has a complex history in his own right, so explorations of his history in general (what was it like being a telepathic foster kid?) are also good. During the first season, he used his power to help people deal with their problems when they had information they couldn’t or wouldn’t share with the "proper" authorities. I’d like to see more of this, as opposed to him being a telepathic snitch like he was in the second season. My favorite episodes were "Lisa Says" and "Inside the Man," if that says anything useful.

SECONDARY FANDOM -- The Tomorrow People (1992) -- I like all the characters here for different reasons. Adam has the mystery past and do-gooder attitude (and he’s a telepath!). Megabyte has the snark and the smarts. Kevin has the snark and the ambivalence about what he is and what he can do. Jade has the stupid bravery and nosiness. If you write for this fandom, please do GEN fic only or light "we’ve just starting dating" stories. I’d prefer if you don’t age the characters too much (college is OK, middle-age is not), but feel free to play with the timeline of the show. My favorite serials are "The Origin Story" and "The Living Stones." The Tomorrow People save the world on a fairly regular basis, but we don’t know much about them as people. For this show, I’m curious to learn more about who they are when they’re not saving the world, or who they are when their brand of saving the world isn’t the right answer.

Now for a prompt that sorta breaks, sorta upends, and definitely plays right into what I've said above. I've wondered for awhile about a post-death fic that starts at the funeral for one of the TP (or a TP!OC) who was, of course, saving the world without her/his parents or family or other friends having any clue that their kid had special powers. The fic would be about the parents learning how amazing their child really was, who their child really was, and what their child's death really meant. This has the potential to be very dark, so a hopeful ending would be nice.

FOR (OPTIONAL) CROSSOVER PURPOSES, here’re other shows/characters I like. The Listener, The Tomorrow People (1992), and VR.5 are all Yuletide approved.

The Listener -- See above. It occurred to me recently that Jackson could be Toby’s mystery younger brother. They’ve got the same blue eyes.

The Tomorrow People -- See above. Using the concepts rather than the characters works fine, too.

VR.5 -- Duncan, Oliver, Sydney, Sam. I’m a sucker for dream state/reality bending stories, and this show definitely provides the means to achieve that.

In all crossover cases, I’m OK with show timelines being changed so the canons can be contemporaneous (in general or with Teen Wolf if that’s what you’re crossing over with); with plot devices or hand-waving being used so that the characters’ ages are a match; or with the shows and characters being allowed to age--it’s all good if it’s in the service of a good story.

Prompts (to use, abuse, or ignore) (TEEN WOLF ONLY)

If you’re the kind of writer who needs a starting place, here you go. If you’re not, feel completely free to ignore these. Most of these have been posted elsewhere, so don’t worry if you don’t want to, or can’t, fulfill any of them.

GEN

1. Suspecting correctly that Scott and Allison are getting very serious, Melissa sits Scott down for The Talk (he's heard it before, but so what?). Unbeknownst to him, she has figured out what he is and has just been waiting for him to tell her on his own. She's also done some research (maybe she's talked to Derek). So, this is not only The Talk, it's the "So You're a Werewolf" version.

2. Jackson perspective on solving the mystery of Scott from "Wolf Moon" to "Wolf's Bane."

3. Scott has to out his secret (why?) to someone unlikely (preferably Coach or Mom). Consequence fic.

4. Scott's hearing goes out of control (parallel with the Buffy episode "Earshot") and he overhears something bad or dangerous that he's not supposed to know and that he's now the only one in the position to resolve.

5. Due to a prank gone wrong, Scott gets wolfsbane poisoning. H/c (or whump, if you will). Preferred secondary characters are Stiles, Jackson, Danny, and/or Allison. No character death.

ADULT

1. Scott/Stiles (background Scott/Allison and Stiles/Lydia or Stiles/Female!OC). Side-by-side masturbation in which they verbalize everything going on in their heads.

2. Scott very reluctantly asks Stiles for help with the going-wolf-when-aroused problem. Stiles decides that the answer is a porn-a-thon. Things happen. (emphasis on the awkwardness of the situation and bromance of two friends who will do anything for each other, not OTP).

3. Scott/Allison. If he’s going to learn to control his transformations, they need to practice more. (Light bondage is OK here).

Final Note

While I can’t imagine that you’d want to, if for some reason you like something I’ve written and want to remix, prequel, or sequel it, have fun. Stay away from the AU Bingo stories, though (at least for Yuletide). Most of them are too cracky for my taste.