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mercyrobotPS (pre-script??) The more I (over)think about this, the more it sounds crazy picky and demanding, but remember that bit in the assignment emails about getting a pony? This is a pony. This is like ten ponies frolicking around a chocolate fountain with half-naked rock stars handing out neverending mugs of gin and Norman Reedus wants to be my best friend but I'm just too cool for him. As in, REALLY SERIOUSLY disregard any of this you want or need to, except hopefully the stuff on the OMG NO REALLY NOT EVER list and we will be JUST FINE. <3
Dearest, loveliest Yule-writer goat/person,
Firstly, I love you already, because you are writing a thing just for me! I had to miss out last year so I'm extra super excited. And also flailing a bit. That's part of the fun. :D If I'm not there commenting with joy at your shiny gift the moment the archive opens, please don't worry-- I'm going to have several places to be, mostly with people who will not understand why I keep eyeing the computer/phone. I will delve in as soon as I have a few minutes to myself, 26th at the latest but probably much sooner. <3
Secondly, there are a lot of details here. A LOT. I figured, well, better to have too much than not enough, and then I got kind of carried away. Also, I'm going to mention a lot of stuff that might sound anywhere from fairly to extremely crazy, on the off-chance that your brain works the same way as mine, but anything you can't get your head around, just cheerfully ignore.
So please don't panic! I know that optional details are optional. Do the kind of writing you're most awesome at, because I'd so much rather have something that you love too and had a good time writing than have you pulling teeth to cater to every single whim. All I'm aiming to do is maybe spark some extra inspiration for one thing or another, in case you need it. Think of it as, 'well, yeah, she'd really like this extremely specific kitchen appliance that I've never heard of, but holy crap, I was in the antique store the other day and found this cool thing that would be a really bitchin' surprise.'
So, that said, details!
The only thing I really need in a story is to be able to recognize the characters, no matter how far off from a strictly canon-compliant situation they're taken. As in, no, Freddie will probably not be canonically bumming Hector anytime soon (especially not in the middle of a zombie apocalypse where Captain Jack Harkness has inexplicably turned up), but if that's what the story's about, I want to know they're them from something other than whose names are in the tags. The characters and how they speak and think and interact are what far more makes a story for me than how intricate the plot is. All of these requests have some kind of pairing(s) suggested but I'd rather have them be gen if a pairing is going to feel forced and weird to you.
I love: awesomely in-character dialogue, old comfortable friendships, bromance (whether or not it ever becomes romance and whether or not the people in question are actually dudes), future-fic, atmosphere, characters being awesome at doing some thing or other they're known to do (seriously, I can't get on a plane unless I buy my competency kink its own seat), playful/fun/funny sex, backstory exploration, that fantastic little random detail that makes you go "oh!", slices of life, outsider POV, anyone playing a guitar or a piano.
And crossovers! I'm a total sucker for them so if you are too and you feel one coming on, either from amongst these requests or from stalking what I've written in the past, pull up a random time/space portal or similar flimsy excuse (because if it happens, I'm soooooo not bothered how it comes about) and GO FOR IT. (that goes for zombie apocalpyses too-- I'm totally caught up with Walking Dead. :P)
I would enjoy less: Pure fluff, all angst all the time, PWP, deathfic (one exception under Breaking Bad but that's more a case of death as a plot device, not for it to be all about that), super graphic sex, extreme kink, the thing (pet peeve alert, sorry, but it honestly throws me right out) where one attempts to avoid using names too many times and there's a bunch of 'the older man' and 'the blonde' even though what's going on has nothing to do with age or hair color, characters assigned a past Great Big Trauma that canon doesn't mention, kidfic, totally tragic and un-hopeful endings.
I really really can't go near: Eating disorders, self-injury/cutting, under-18 sex, rape/non-con/dub-con, prostitution, D/s, abuse.
The requests!
Breaking Bad: Walt Jr, Jesse
What I would absolutely love is Walt Jr. and Jesse meeting somehow. Maybe Walt Jr. fully knows who Jesse is (and by consequence what his father's new career is/was), maybe he doesn't. Maybe that's how he finds out. Or maybe Walt Sr. is dead (this is the only instance in which I'm cool with major character death, by the by) and that's why they meet, some time after existing canon. Maybe years later. Maybe (if and only if Walt Jr. is over 18) they get together (and I will go ahead and admit I think that would rock).
Or maybe some piece of canon or post-canon through Walt Jr's eyes. Maybe Walt Sr. and (slashed or not) Jesse from his POV. Maybe pretty much anything, really, if none of the above grabs you. Jesse or Walt Jr. on their own would be good too if they just refuse to exist in the same space! Other characters as you want and need but Saul and Badger are personal favorites of mine.
I know, I know. My main request is a little bit crazy, probably especially the slashy bit. Hell, I couldn't even write it myself. But I like speculation on futures and I love Jesse to pieces in all of his "Bitch!" glory and I like Walt Jr, and that's what my brain came up with. So while I would be over the moon if I got it, I'm not expecting it.
One other thing-- while I do not want Walt Jr's cerebral palsy handwaved or ignored or minimized into a non-thing, because it's part of who he is, and it absolutely should be present and handled responsibly, neither do I want to read something where CP is the Big Issue, just from a gift-preference standpoint.
The Hour: Lix Storm, Freddie Lyon
I would love to see Lix and Freddie continuing some kind of friends-with-benefits thing. It seemed to me that the night they spent together, they both understood in the end exactly what it was. Also, Bel kind of not really getting it and asking about going to the cinema and all made me curious what that keeping on might be like through her eyes. (I am completely on the Bel/Freddie endgame train but if you're not, take it where you please, pairings or no pairings.)
I'm also really interested in Lix's backstory. especially involving Lix as a photographer, so something that goes into that would be awesome too.
I love Lix a stupid stupid lot. I love her bad-assedness and her candor and her whiskey and her flirting with waitresses. We get so few facts on her but so much to speculate on. What's that ring she wears on a chain? What about that man she loved who married someone else? Why does she sleep in her office so much? In-canon, pre-canon, post-canon, anything. In the war with a camera, the Freddie thing, stuck in a lift with Marnie Madden, meeting Freddie's father, hangin' with Sissy Cooper, developing film and thinking about whatever, absolutely anything that makes her character be explored. Massive bonus points for working in photographer stuff-- I am one myself and shoot primarily older film cameras so I had a total Moment Where I GOT Her when she told Hector about one of the photos in her office:
I realize I've just spent 700 years talking about Lix, but seriously, there is no fic I would not want to read because I love every single character. I mean, don't get Clarence all naked and panting or anything, but you know what I mean. What are they all doing after the end of the first series? I would also love some Hector and Freddie or some Freddie and Bel or some Angus and Adam Le Ray. Pairing focus welcome but so very optional.
Downton Abbey: Thomas Barrow
I really wish the show had done more with Thomas being queer, especially because of the time period and how difficult that plus his social status would have made it. And yeah, it's partly because I enjoy m/m pairings, but I'm also fascinated with pre-decriminalization GLBT culture on a historical level. So I would love any kind of anything that gets into Thomas's head and life and experiences with queer identity (not that he would know that term). It doesn't have to be super man-snogging slashy if you're not comfortable writing that kind of thing (though it's very welcome if you are), just what it's like for him being "different," as he puts it. Maybe in the context of his relationship with the Duke of Crowborough, or his relationship-that-could-have-been-maybe with Edward Courtenay (the blinded soldier-- AU where he lives is totally cool with me), or some past or future person you make up. Or (what, you thought this would be the only request without some total left field pairing?) Thomas/Branson. I would love that a great massive lot if you happen to be able to make it make sense in your head.
But the bare bones request is LOTS OF THOMAS BEING THOMAS, however you feel you can do that best.
Thomas is my favorite. I love his snark and his scheming and his bitchfests with O'Brien (I have a total crackpot theory that she's actually his mother and also one that she killed Bates's wife, but that's neither here nor there). I feel for his frustrations although they're often his own fault.
RE: Thomas/Branson, I saw this gifand may or may not have stared at it forever
and my brain went absolutely everywhere thinking of ways to make the pairing happen, and there was this whole thing I talked to a friend about where they're driving somewhere for some reason and the car breaks down and they have total cliché snarky/hot encounters and there are not supposed to be feelings but then there are feelings. ...yep, there you go. I felt I would be doing my gift possibilities a grave disservice not to mention it (and also they would be great in that zombie apocalypse together, with guns and sharing rooms and dirt on their faces), but again, SO VERY optional. <3
I will also note that I am much less interested in the family than I am in the servants, though I love the Queen Bitch pants off Violet, so if there's room for her to even get a couple of good one-liners in, I will in no way be sorry.
Back to that thing like a million words ago where I mentioned crossovers, there are about a million contemporary or near-enough-contemporary possibilities here if you wanted to go that way, for a partner in crime and/or romance for Thomas, or even just a random cameo appearance would entertain me so so much. The Crawleys surely could have known the Upstairs Downstairs or Gosford Park crews or some Evelyn Waugh characters or the Jeeves and Woosters. ;) But that is so incredibly optional that it makes the regular kind of optional look like forced labor, so if you're making a O_o face right now, just pretend you didn't read this paragraph.
You've actually read this far? I love you EVEN MORE. Just remember that whatever mad things I've waxed long-winded crazypants about, the thing I will love the most is the thing you're really proud of, even if you go a totally different way with it than anything I've suggested. Everything else is gravy on the Yuletide potatoes of joy.
Love and terrible metaphors and happy Yuletide,
Mercy
Dearest, loveliest Yule-writer goat/person,
Firstly, I love you already, because you are writing a thing just for me! I had to miss out last year so I'm extra super excited. And also flailing a bit. That's part of the fun. :D If I'm not there commenting with joy at your shiny gift the moment the archive opens, please don't worry-- I'm going to have several places to be, mostly with people who will not understand why I keep eyeing the computer/phone. I will delve in as soon as I have a few minutes to myself, 26th at the latest but probably much sooner. <3
Secondly, there are a lot of details here. A LOT. I figured, well, better to have too much than not enough, and then I got kind of carried away. Also, I'm going to mention a lot of stuff that might sound anywhere from fairly to extremely crazy, on the off-chance that your brain works the same way as mine, but anything you can't get your head around, just cheerfully ignore.
So please don't panic! I know that optional details are optional. Do the kind of writing you're most awesome at, because I'd so much rather have something that you love too and had a good time writing than have you pulling teeth to cater to every single whim. All I'm aiming to do is maybe spark some extra inspiration for one thing or another, in case you need it. Think of it as, 'well, yeah, she'd really like this extremely specific kitchen appliance that I've never heard of, but holy crap, I was in the antique store the other day and found this cool thing that would be a really bitchin' surprise.'
So, that said, details!
The only thing I really need in a story is to be able to recognize the characters, no matter how far off from a strictly canon-compliant situation they're taken. As in, no, Freddie will probably not be canonically bumming Hector anytime soon (especially not in the middle of a zombie apocalypse where Captain Jack Harkness has inexplicably turned up), but if that's what the story's about, I want to know they're them from something other than whose names are in the tags. The characters and how they speak and think and interact are what far more makes a story for me than how intricate the plot is. All of these requests have some kind of pairing(s) suggested but I'd rather have them be gen if a pairing is going to feel forced and weird to you.
I love: awesomely in-character dialogue, old comfortable friendships, bromance (whether or not it ever becomes romance and whether or not the people in question are actually dudes), future-fic, atmosphere, characters being awesome at doing some thing or other they're known to do (seriously, I can't get on a plane unless I buy my competency kink its own seat), playful/fun/funny sex, backstory exploration, that fantastic little random detail that makes you go "oh!", slices of life, outsider POV, anyone playing a guitar or a piano.
And crossovers! I'm a total sucker for them so if you are too and you feel one coming on, either from amongst these requests or from stalking what I've written in the past, pull up a random time/space portal or similar flimsy excuse (because if it happens, I'm soooooo not bothered how it comes about) and GO FOR IT. (that goes for zombie apocalpyses too-- I'm totally caught up with Walking Dead. :P)
I would enjoy less: Pure fluff, all angst all the time, PWP, deathfic (one exception under Breaking Bad but that's more a case of death as a plot device, not for it to be all about that), super graphic sex, extreme kink, the thing (pet peeve alert, sorry, but it honestly throws me right out) where one attempts to avoid using names too many times and there's a bunch of 'the older man' and 'the blonde' even though what's going on has nothing to do with age or hair color, characters assigned a past Great Big Trauma that canon doesn't mention, kidfic, totally tragic and un-hopeful endings.
I really really can't go near: Eating disorders, self-injury/cutting, under-18 sex, rape/non-con/dub-con, prostitution, D/s, abuse.
The requests!
Breaking Bad: Walt Jr, Jesse
What I would absolutely love is Walt Jr. and Jesse meeting somehow. Maybe Walt Jr. fully knows who Jesse is (and by consequence what his father's new career is/was), maybe he doesn't. Maybe that's how he finds out. Or maybe Walt Sr. is dead (this is the only instance in which I'm cool with major character death, by the by) and that's why they meet, some time after existing canon. Maybe years later. Maybe (if and only if Walt Jr. is over 18) they get together (and I will go ahead and admit I think that would rock).
Or maybe some piece of canon or post-canon through Walt Jr's eyes. Maybe Walt Sr. and (slashed or not) Jesse from his POV. Maybe pretty much anything, really, if none of the above grabs you. Jesse or Walt Jr. on their own would be good too if they just refuse to exist in the same space! Other characters as you want and need but Saul and Badger are personal favorites of mine.
I know, I know. My main request is a little bit crazy, probably especially the slashy bit. Hell, I couldn't even write it myself. But I like speculation on futures and I love Jesse to pieces in all of his "Bitch!" glory and I like Walt Jr, and that's what my brain came up with. So while I would be over the moon if I got it, I'm not expecting it.
One other thing-- while I do not want Walt Jr's cerebral palsy handwaved or ignored or minimized into a non-thing, because it's part of who he is, and it absolutely should be present and handled responsibly, neither do I want to read something where CP is the Big Issue, just from a gift-preference standpoint.
The Hour: Lix Storm, Freddie Lyon
I would love to see Lix and Freddie continuing some kind of friends-with-benefits thing. It seemed to me that the night they spent together, they both understood in the end exactly what it was. Also, Bel kind of not really getting it and asking about going to the cinema and all made me curious what that keeping on might be like through her eyes. (I am completely on the Bel/Freddie endgame train but if you're not, take it where you please, pairings or no pairings.)
I'm also really interested in Lix's backstory. especially involving Lix as a photographer, so something that goes into that would be awesome too.
I love Lix a stupid stupid lot. I love her bad-assedness and her candor and her whiskey and her flirting with waitresses. We get so few facts on her but so much to speculate on. What's that ring she wears on a chain? What about that man she loved who married someone else? Why does she sleep in her office so much? In-canon, pre-canon, post-canon, anything. In the war with a camera, the Freddie thing, stuck in a lift with Marnie Madden, meeting Freddie's father, hangin' with Sissy Cooper, developing film and thinking about whatever, absolutely anything that makes her character be explored. Massive bonus points for working in photographer stuff-- I am one myself and shoot primarily older film cameras so I had a total Moment Where I GOT Her when she told Hector about one of the photos in her office:
That one was taken just outside of Madrid. One of the last to surrender in '39. She's running away from her house, leaving everything. Heroic men are being executed just behind that door, amongst them her husband. She didn't look back. I was irritated because I had my camera in my hand and I couldn't find another film. They were being shot one by one and all I could think was, 'I've got no bloody film.' I'm still proud I got it. Got to grab it while you can.
I realize I've just spent 700 years talking about Lix, but seriously, there is no fic I would not want to read because I love every single character. I mean, don't get Clarence all naked and panting or anything, but you know what I mean. What are they all doing after the end of the first series? I would also love some Hector and Freddie or some Freddie and Bel or some Angus and Adam Le Ray. Pairing focus welcome but so very optional.
Downton Abbey: Thomas Barrow
I really wish the show had done more with Thomas being queer, especially because of the time period and how difficult that plus his social status would have made it. And yeah, it's partly because I enjoy m/m pairings, but I'm also fascinated with pre-decriminalization GLBT culture on a historical level. So I would love any kind of anything that gets into Thomas's head and life and experiences with queer identity (not that he would know that term). It doesn't have to be super man-snogging slashy if you're not comfortable writing that kind of thing (though it's very welcome if you are), just what it's like for him being "different," as he puts it. Maybe in the context of his relationship with the Duke of Crowborough, or his relationship-that-could-have-been-maybe with Edward Courtenay (the blinded soldier-- AU where he lives is totally cool with me), or some past or future person you make up. Or (what, you thought this would be the only request without some total left field pairing?) Thomas/Branson. I would love that a great massive lot if you happen to be able to make it make sense in your head.
But the bare bones request is LOTS OF THOMAS BEING THOMAS, however you feel you can do that best.
Thomas is my favorite. I love his snark and his scheming and his bitchfests with O'Brien (I have a total crackpot theory that she's actually his mother and also one that she killed Bates's wife, but that's neither here nor there). I feel for his frustrations although they're often his own fault.
RE: Thomas/Branson, I saw this gif
and my brain went absolutely everywhere thinking of ways to make the pairing happen, and there was this whole thing I talked to a friend about where they're driving somewhere for some reason and the car breaks down and they have total cliché snarky/hot encounters and there are not supposed to be feelings but then there are feelings. ...yep, there you go. I felt I would be doing my gift possibilities a grave disservice not to mention it (and also they would be great in that zombie apocalypse together, with guns and sharing rooms and dirt on their faces), but again, SO VERY optional. <3
I will also note that I am much less interested in the family than I am in the servants, though I love the Queen Bitch pants off Violet, so if there's room for her to even get a couple of good one-liners in, I will in no way be sorry.
Back to that thing like a million words ago where I mentioned crossovers, there are about a million contemporary or near-enough-contemporary possibilities here if you wanted to go that way, for a partner in crime and/or romance for Thomas, or even just a random cameo appearance would entertain me so so much. The Crawleys surely could have known the Upstairs Downstairs or Gosford Park crews or some Evelyn Waugh characters or the Jeeves and Woosters. ;) But that is so incredibly optional that it makes the regular kind of optional look like forced labor, so if you're making a O_o face right now, just pretend you didn't read this paragraph.
You've actually read this far? I love you EVEN MORE. Just remember that whatever mad things I've waxed long-winded crazypants about, the thing I will love the most is the thing you're really proud of, even if you go a totally different way with it than anything I've suggested. Everything else is gravy on the Yuletide potatoes of joy.
Love and terrible metaphors and happy Yuletide,
Mercy
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Date: 2011-11-27 06:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-28 03:36 pm (UTC)