Yuletide 2017 Dear Author Letter

[coaldustcanary]

Hello, and thanks for taking a look at my letter to peruse further details on my request, it's much appreciated. I've been in fandom a long time but only started participating in Yuletide last year, and though I've done exchanges off and on for a long while, I'm really looking forward to another Yuletide season. This post is organized around sections for each of my requested fandoms below, and concluded with a list of general likes in terms of plot, tropes, kinks, etc, and a list of DNWs as well.

My requests, in alphabetical order:

The Expanse (TV)

Requested Characters: Chrisjen Avasarala, Bobbie Draper

What I like about this media: Hard sci-fi doesn't usually grip me, but this show has proven to be an exception to that rule, and I find it incredibly engaging, and one of the best shows currently on TV. The characters are diverse and unique - and I pretty much love them all - without their appearance or characterization seeming to fill quotas or just be for show. The late S2 meeting of Chrisjen and Bobbie absolutely floored me, and I loved their interaction, flavored as it was with both mutual respect and distrust.

Prompts:

• I'd love to see some canon divergence or canon speculation about Bobbie and Chrisjen and their relationship development as allies from very different worlds.
• I wouldn't mind seeing Chrisjen introducing Bobbie to Earth culture - after seeing Bobbie's delighted reaction to cucumber sandwich hors d'oeuvres and considering my impression of Martian food culture as somewhat ascetic, I kept imagining Chrisjen inviting Bobbie to dinner with her family and introducing Bobbie to an diverse array of Indian food, or some other "Earther delicacy".
• Alternately, Bobbie introduces Chrisjen to some Martian practice, food, or cultural norm, something that Chrisjen thinks she understands as a life-long diplomat and student of politics, but she finds herself understanding it in a totally new way after learning about it from Bobbie.
• I'd be intrigued to see a romantic dalliance between these two, as long as Chrisjen's husband Arjun isn't implied to be a bad person - their relationship is so strong and lovely - but maybe it's an open relationship, or it's an AU where Arjun has died. Bobbie seems to be under the impression that Chrisjen is a fragile little old lady, and though she's been disabused of that notion to some extent now, probably, it would be interesting to see her learn it more intimately!

Fandom-specific DNWs: Though it's unlikely he'd come up, I don't want to read about Joe Miller, please. Other characters appearing, especially Arjun or Cotyar or the Roci crew, are fine!

John Wick (Movies)

Requested Characters: John Wick, Gianna D'Antonio

What I like about this media: The setting - the totally serious but also a bit tongue-in-cheek setting. I love the "hidden underworld" motif, and the arcane ways of the assassin's world. The Continental and its rules, blood oaths and Herculean task challenges, and the idea of moving in and out of a shadowy other-world as John does over the course of the films. Everything is so over-the-top and yet the dialogue is so understated - I love that.

Prompts:

• I would be very pleased to receive straight-up worldbuilding in this setting - please feel free to barely mention either requested character and tell me a story about how you perceive the details of the world. An outsider's POV would be fascinating - either a true outsider to the setting, or someone who works for the Assassins but isn't actually one, perhaps. How did they perceive the events of either film, especially Gianna and/or Santino's deaths and what it means for the future that John flouted the rules so explicitly? How did they perceive - and how do they talk about - the events of John's Task that allowed him to leave their world years ago?
• I would also love fic that explores the past that John and Gianna are strongly implied to share. Were they lovers? What was that like? Their hands are metaphorically - and sometimes literally - dripping with blood, the both of them, and while the John of the films seems to be ambivalent about aspects of his past, Gianna seems to be totally unashamed. Has it always been that way?
• Alternately, an entirely morbid canon divergence fic in which Gianna requests (demands? draws on old promises to compel?) a final fling with John "for old time's sake" before he kills her could be both highly creepy and very hot - dubcon and/or femdom themes welcome. Could still end with Gianna's death or be ambiguous or go entirely AU somehow...

The Truman Show (1998)

Requested Characters: Truman Burbank

What I like about this media: This movie was so much ahead of its time in some ways - it was so predictive of reality television and social media and the way in which our lives are shaped and controlled by media, and we are compelled to share ourselves and our lives online. I re-watch it now and again and constantly find new ways to appreciate it. Jim Carrey's performace is amazing, too.

Prompts:

• Legitimately, however you wanted to have a go riffing off of this film would be fine. Feel free to go experimental, weird, meta, or quirky.
• A post-film fic in which Truman finds himself utterly unable to escape being the center of media attention despite being *free*, or expressing shock at the notion of individuals choosing to have their lives broadcast via media.
• Alternately, an AU in which it was all a delusion (This is a real thing, though not an official psychiatric diagnosis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truman_Show_delusion)

The Vikings (1958)

Requested Characters: Einar (The Vikings 1958), Eric (The Vikings 1958)

What I like about this media: I saw this film for the first time this past year while enjoying a lazy weekend, and I adored it - the performances of Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh and Ernest Borgnine are delightful and fun and a bit campy but very engaging. 

Prompts:

• Eric and Einar's relationship is such an incredible mix of loathing and jealousy and admiration - you can cut the tension with a knife in their scenes. I would love to see any kind of exploration of their rivalry and what precipitated it - one may be the Jarl's son, and the other a slave, but they grew up together, after all. Would be happy to see Kitala and/or Sandpiper show up in a pre-canon fic like this - how did they become so close to Eric?
• I could also see a canon divergence in which Einar does not die, but the two of them remain rivals and warleaders constantly struggling for power - what might that look like? Does Morgana remain a point of contention between them? Does Eric's knowledge of Viking culture make him more successful and fending off Einar's attacks?
• I'm absolutely here for a sexual relationship between the two - consensual but heavy on the competitive rivalry, dub-con, or non-con all welcome, either pre-canon, at any point during the film, or canon divergence. One specific point of divergence that might work well is when Einar attempts to rape Morgana, he's put off by her total passivity and lack of response to his urging to fight him - perhaps he goes looking for Eric with the assumption that Eric will fight back.

Fandom-specific DNW: I would prefer no Modern AUs in this fandom. Also, I'm fine with seeing the characters interact as children or teens, but if there's any sexual content, please age the characters at least to "ambigously late teens" at minimum.


General Plot, Trope, & Kink preferences:

Future fic (including with child characters grown to adults), hurt/comfort (physical and/or emotional), whump, sex pollen, fuck or die, dubcon generally (especially but not only when both/all parties are consenting only under duress or when impaired due to alcohol or drugs), rope bondage, werewolves (just not a/b/o type), canon divergence, first time (both first time sex ever and first time for a particular pairing), sex magic, pegging, praise kink, sharing a bed, huddling for warmth, falling asleep on someone, cuddling, spooning, competitive sex games (who can make the other orgasm the fastest, who can resist orgasm the longest, who can successfully finish a task while the other partner tries to get them off or tries to entice them into sex, etc), begging, sex as an emotional outlet in the wake of tragedy, battle couples, alternate magical system AUs, sex between platonic friends

Tropes/Kinks I don't want:

A/B/O dynamics (Werewolves are great, but the A/B/O trope doesn't work for me), mpreg, bestiality, excessive focus on bodily fluids/bodily fluid-focused kinks, age regression in romantic pairing fics (I'm OK with it for platonic pairings!), high school AUs, childhood friends-to-lovers (unless canonical), teacher/student relationships (even when the student is adult)