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Oct. 9th, 2018 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
merrimanIt's Yuletide time! My favorite time of the year!
Every year I say to myself I will get my letter done before signups open and every year I am very mistaken. That being said, now it is done! A lot of the more general stuff and two of the requests are largely the same as last year and that letter isn't far below this one, so feel free to go take a gander there but there's not much more to see.
And now this year's letter:
First and foremost:
Where to find me: Here, obviously. I'm merriman over on AO3 and merrimanlyon on Discord. I like to keep things as consistent as possible.
Thank you for offering something I requested! I adore Yuletide and the folks who participate and I truly appreciate that anyone volunteered to write one of the fandoms I requested. I'm also absolutely thrilled to find some things in the tag set that I sure didn't nominate but I'd love to get as a gift! I wrote some prompts in my details, but rest assured, I know that optional details are optional. If you've got an idea that isn't from my prompts? That's totally cool. If you see something in a prompt for a different fandom and it sparks something for you in the one we matched on? Awesome.
Secondly, let's talk generalities:
When it comes to rating, I am not picky. I'll be just as happy with a gen story as with smut and vice versa. Don't try and force a sex scene into a story if it's just not going there for you and don't try to keep it all-audiences if things are heating up. As well, I am perfectly good with slash, femslash, het, poly of any type, when it comes to relationships and pairings. Write what works for the characters and for you so long as it doesn't hit one of the DNWs below.
I am such a sucker for backstory and continuing stories, seeing what happened before we met the character(s) or after the end of the canon. Missing scenes are great too, but you can always get me with some pre or post-canon.
I love angst in stories, but I also like my angst to be resolved by the end of the story. I'm not asking for everything to be super happy funtime with kittens and roses and party balloons, but I'd like some resolution to whatever problem comes up.
As for my DNW list, here goes:
Non-con/dub-con/rape
Pregnancy
Kidfic
Mpreg
ABO
Incest
Underage sex
Cannibalism (of the sexual and non-sexual varieties)
Sex involving bodily fluids other than the norm, and human waste of any kind
In fact, please keep any sex on the non-kinky end of things (aside from Chain Male - he's probably totally into at least mild bondage, come on)
Non-canon character death
I'm good with different POVs, but I'd prefer to get plain prose as a format - I'm not into IF, video, poetry, drabble sets, etc. for these requests.
Thirdly, now for specifics:
1. The Box of Delights (TV)
Youtube to the first part (other parts should be in the same channel)
Character(s): Maria Jones
Why Do I Love This: The Box of Delights is British fantasy nonsense of the highest degree. I love it dearly. My family and I watched it first when I was a kid and it's now one of our holiday traditions. I love the characters and the double cross and I love that there's a whole load of old magic out there that can be tapped into if you're canny enough. I also love that Maria Jones just isn't having any of it. She'd far rather go at problems head on, with a pistol preferably, than muck around with magic.
Request: Anything about Maria. Please. She's been expelled from several schools. Headmistresses swoon when they hear her name. She's generally got at least one pistol on her at all times. She faced down Abner Brown and Sylvia Daisy Pouncer and they let her go. Maria's exploits before or after the story would be fantastic. How did she get expelled? Ignoring the cop-out ending, what does Maria go on to do later now she's seen true villains and magic at work? Go ahead and include anyone else from the movie if you like. Do she and Peter have adventures later? What sort of relationship does she have with her sisters when they're older? Does she face off against Sylvia and Charles ever again? That ending has always bothered me, but the rest of it is marvelous. If you've read The Midnight Folk, you know that Kay has had prior dealings with Sylvia and Abner. What about Maria? Was this her first encounter with things like this? Her sisters seem like they'd be likely to brush it off, but Maria and Kay are far more drawn to it. I could easily see them meeting up as adults and getting into some sort of trouble.
2. Dash Sword Slash and the Defenders of Everything (Youtube)
Youtube video
Character(s): Jace Cockblock, Colonel Closeup, Chain Male, Abracabastard
Why Do I Love This: Straight up, I'm a sucker for puns and bad jokes. This whole video had me laughing so hard it was difficult to breathe. The mashup of various cartoons (and live action) and the weird 80s nostalgia mixed with stuff like Poughkeepsie 2 and the elite crew of incoming freshmen. I love that it pokes fun at all these bizarre cartoons even while it's obvious that you couldn't make this sort of thing without a fairly wide knowledge of the cartoons used.
Request: I nominated this fandom and the characters I nominated are all from the Creep Crew portion of the video because I figured if you wanted to actually have some sort of plot or storyline, it made more sense to have characters that were grouped together. That said, please feel free to pick and choose from these four. I am up for any sort of bizarre 80s/90s cartoon nonsense with these guys. Baddie team bonding? Someone got laid who shouldn't have (Jace Cockblock won't like that!)? If you want to use just the Creep Crew, that's 100% fine with me but I'm also fine if you want to use any other names from the video too.
3. Spirit Island (Board game)
Board Game Geek overview
List of Spirits - Click on any of them and choose the "Lore" tab for info about them
ETA: Kickstarter for the new Jagged Earth expansion
Character(s): Any
Why Do I Love This: The very first time I played this game, I knew I needed to nominate it for Yuletide. You play cooperatively with other players as the Spirits of the island, attempting to drive out invaders. How awesome is that? And on top of it, every Spirit has their own lore and background and mechanics that fit what they are and what they represent. That lore is what hooked me. This line in particular: "Other stories say different things - in particular, Volcano Looming High has its own account - but stories do not need to agree for them to be true." Now, Volcano Looming High is not a currently playable Spirit in the game, so I didn't nominate it, but that line? That line is storytelling gold.
Request: I would love to know more about the Spirits and the stories they tell themselves and each other about how the island was formed and how it has grown and what has happened on it. I asked for Any because I would truly be happy to read any story about the Spirits listed, either one on its own, or a combination of any of them. The line on Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island's card that ends "...but stories do not need to agree for them to be true." would make for a fantastic jumping off point for any story, or combination of stories, you might want to tell.
ETA just before signups close: The Jagged Earth Kickstarter went live a day or two ago and funded almost immediately. Since it only just went up, it wasn't up in time for me to nominate Spirits introduced in the expansion. Obviously I don't expect to see them show up in any fic this year and I'll be perfectly happy without them. That said, if you want to toss any of them in, I certainly wouldn't mind.
4. Dark is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
The Dark is Rising wiki with plot summaries for the books, character and location profiles, etc.
Characters: Merriman Lyon, The Black Rider
Why Do I Love This: As one might guess from my username, I have a deep love of these books. I loved the battle between good and evil. I loved the early hint at how lonely it must be to keep secrets from one's family and know you will live on well after they're gone. I loved the magic and the Arthurian bits woven in and the fact that regular, ordinary people fight alongside the extraordinary ones. I love that it's obvious that there's a ton of history here, and we as the readers only come in right at the end.
Request: Merriman and the Black Rider definitely have history. They've both been in this fight for a very long time, so they must have faced off before. Both of them are sort of vanguards for their sides, agents working directly in the mortal world to influence events. I'd love to see some of that history. Other encounters, either in the past or the present of the books.
5. Highlander: The Raven
Currently available on Hulu in the US, I believe (as of writing this).
Brief overview of the series
Decent profile of Liam
In-depth profile of Amanda (worth reading the whole thing but the bits directly relevant to the spin-off show are down near the bottom)
Characters: Amanda Darieux, Liam Riley
Why Do I Love This: Let's be frank here, this show is ridiculous and uneven and could have done with some major changes. All that being said, I love Amanda so much as a character and I love the premise of the Highlander universe and seeing more of Amanda and the people she associates with when she's not with Duncan MacLeod is so much fun. One of the things I love the most about the Highlander universe is that when characters live as long as these ones do, they have a chance to really change and grow and shift their views on the world, either for good or for ill. Both Amanda and Liam are examples of this.
Request: I would absolutely love to see more of Liam. One of the things I really regret about the show only getting one season was that we didn't get to see more of a journey from him. He has a crisis of faith late in the show and he learns some things from Amanda that she kept from him for centuries. He's relatively young, as Immortals go, so goodness knows he has time to think on the life he's led up to when we meet him. As for Amanda, I love that the show got to give her more to do and more friends to associate with. Her friendship with Liam is fascinating. She really does love do-gooders, doesn't she? I'd be happy to see them both together, or either one of them solo, so if you're really feeling like you have an idea for a story with one or the other but not both? That's fine by me.
Please feel free to contact me through the Yuletide mods if you feel you need more information or have a question/concern about something. I'm more than happy to elaborate on a point or clarify. Thank you again for offering one of my tiny little fandoms and I hope you have a wonderful Yuletide!
Every year I say to myself I will get my letter done before signups open and every year I am very mistaken. That being said, now it is done! A lot of the more general stuff and two of the requests are largely the same as last year and that letter isn't far below this one, so feel free to go take a gander there but there's not much more to see.
And now this year's letter:
First and foremost:
Where to find me: Here, obviously. I'm merriman over on AO3 and merrimanlyon on Discord. I like to keep things as consistent as possible.
Thank you for offering something I requested! I adore Yuletide and the folks who participate and I truly appreciate that anyone volunteered to write one of the fandoms I requested. I'm also absolutely thrilled to find some things in the tag set that I sure didn't nominate but I'd love to get as a gift! I wrote some prompts in my details, but rest assured, I know that optional details are optional. If you've got an idea that isn't from my prompts? That's totally cool. If you see something in a prompt for a different fandom and it sparks something for you in the one we matched on? Awesome.
Secondly, let's talk generalities:
When it comes to rating, I am not picky. I'll be just as happy with a gen story as with smut and vice versa. Don't try and force a sex scene into a story if it's just not going there for you and don't try to keep it all-audiences if things are heating up. As well, I am perfectly good with slash, femslash, het, poly of any type, when it comes to relationships and pairings. Write what works for the characters and for you so long as it doesn't hit one of the DNWs below.
I am such a sucker for backstory and continuing stories, seeing what happened before we met the character(s) or after the end of the canon. Missing scenes are great too, but you can always get me with some pre or post-canon.
I love angst in stories, but I also like my angst to be resolved by the end of the story. I'm not asking for everything to be super happy funtime with kittens and roses and party balloons, but I'd like some resolution to whatever problem comes up.
As for my DNW list, here goes:
Non-con/dub-con/rape
Pregnancy
Kidfic
Mpreg
ABO
Incest
Underage sex
Cannibalism (of the sexual and non-sexual varieties)
Sex involving bodily fluids other than the norm, and human waste of any kind
In fact, please keep any sex on the non-kinky end of things (aside from Chain Male - he's probably totally into at least mild bondage, come on)
Non-canon character death
I'm good with different POVs, but I'd prefer to get plain prose as a format - I'm not into IF, video, poetry, drabble sets, etc. for these requests.
Thirdly, now for specifics:
1. The Box of Delights (TV)
Youtube to the first part (other parts should be in the same channel)
Character(s): Maria Jones
Why Do I Love This: The Box of Delights is British fantasy nonsense of the highest degree. I love it dearly. My family and I watched it first when I was a kid and it's now one of our holiday traditions. I love the characters and the double cross and I love that there's a whole load of old magic out there that can be tapped into if you're canny enough. I also love that Maria Jones just isn't having any of it. She'd far rather go at problems head on, with a pistol preferably, than muck around with magic.
Request: Anything about Maria. Please. She's been expelled from several schools. Headmistresses swoon when they hear her name. She's generally got at least one pistol on her at all times. She faced down Abner Brown and Sylvia Daisy Pouncer and they let her go. Maria's exploits before or after the story would be fantastic. How did she get expelled? Ignoring the cop-out ending, what does Maria go on to do later now she's seen true villains and magic at work? Go ahead and include anyone else from the movie if you like. Do she and Peter have adventures later? What sort of relationship does she have with her sisters when they're older? Does she face off against Sylvia and Charles ever again? That ending has always bothered me, but the rest of it is marvelous. If you've read The Midnight Folk, you know that Kay has had prior dealings with Sylvia and Abner. What about Maria? Was this her first encounter with things like this? Her sisters seem like they'd be likely to brush it off, but Maria and Kay are far more drawn to it. I could easily see them meeting up as adults and getting into some sort of trouble.
2. Dash Sword Slash and the Defenders of Everything (Youtube)
Youtube video
Character(s): Jace Cockblock, Colonel Closeup, Chain Male, Abracabastard
Why Do I Love This: Straight up, I'm a sucker for puns and bad jokes. This whole video had me laughing so hard it was difficult to breathe. The mashup of various cartoons (and live action) and the weird 80s nostalgia mixed with stuff like Poughkeepsie 2 and the elite crew of incoming freshmen. I love that it pokes fun at all these bizarre cartoons even while it's obvious that you couldn't make this sort of thing without a fairly wide knowledge of the cartoons used.
Request: I nominated this fandom and the characters I nominated are all from the Creep Crew portion of the video because I figured if you wanted to actually have some sort of plot or storyline, it made more sense to have characters that were grouped together. That said, please feel free to pick and choose from these four. I am up for any sort of bizarre 80s/90s cartoon nonsense with these guys. Baddie team bonding? Someone got laid who shouldn't have (Jace Cockblock won't like that!)? If you want to use just the Creep Crew, that's 100% fine with me but I'm also fine if you want to use any other names from the video too.
3. Spirit Island (Board game)
Board Game Geek overview
List of Spirits - Click on any of them and choose the "Lore" tab for info about them
ETA: Kickstarter for the new Jagged Earth expansion
Character(s): Any
Why Do I Love This: The very first time I played this game, I knew I needed to nominate it for Yuletide. You play cooperatively with other players as the Spirits of the island, attempting to drive out invaders. How awesome is that? And on top of it, every Spirit has their own lore and background and mechanics that fit what they are and what they represent. That lore is what hooked me. This line in particular: "Other stories say different things - in particular, Volcano Looming High has its own account - but stories do not need to agree for them to be true." Now, Volcano Looming High is not a currently playable Spirit in the game, so I didn't nominate it, but that line? That line is storytelling gold.
Request: I would love to know more about the Spirits and the stories they tell themselves and each other about how the island was formed and how it has grown and what has happened on it. I asked for Any because I would truly be happy to read any story about the Spirits listed, either one on its own, or a combination of any of them. The line on Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island's card that ends "...but stories do not need to agree for them to be true." would make for a fantastic jumping off point for any story, or combination of stories, you might want to tell.
ETA just before signups close: The Jagged Earth Kickstarter went live a day or two ago and funded almost immediately. Since it only just went up, it wasn't up in time for me to nominate Spirits introduced in the expansion. Obviously I don't expect to see them show up in any fic this year and I'll be perfectly happy without them. That said, if you want to toss any of them in, I certainly wouldn't mind.
4. Dark is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
The Dark is Rising wiki with plot summaries for the books, character and location profiles, etc.
Characters: Merriman Lyon, The Black Rider
Why Do I Love This: As one might guess from my username, I have a deep love of these books. I loved the battle between good and evil. I loved the early hint at how lonely it must be to keep secrets from one's family and know you will live on well after they're gone. I loved the magic and the Arthurian bits woven in and the fact that regular, ordinary people fight alongside the extraordinary ones. I love that it's obvious that there's a ton of history here, and we as the readers only come in right at the end.
Request: Merriman and the Black Rider definitely have history. They've both been in this fight for a very long time, so they must have faced off before. Both of them are sort of vanguards for their sides, agents working directly in the mortal world to influence events. I'd love to see some of that history. Other encounters, either in the past or the present of the books.
5. Highlander: The Raven
Currently available on Hulu in the US, I believe (as of writing this).
Brief overview of the series
Decent profile of Liam
In-depth profile of Amanda (worth reading the whole thing but the bits directly relevant to the spin-off show are down near the bottom)
Characters: Amanda Darieux, Liam Riley
Why Do I Love This: Let's be frank here, this show is ridiculous and uneven and could have done with some major changes. All that being said, I love Amanda so much as a character and I love the premise of the Highlander universe and seeing more of Amanda and the people she associates with when she's not with Duncan MacLeod is so much fun. One of the things I love the most about the Highlander universe is that when characters live as long as these ones do, they have a chance to really change and grow and shift their views on the world, either for good or for ill. Both Amanda and Liam are examples of this.
Request: I would absolutely love to see more of Liam. One of the things I really regret about the show only getting one season was that we didn't get to see more of a journey from him. He has a crisis of faith late in the show and he learns some things from Amanda that she kept from him for centuries. He's relatively young, as Immortals go, so goodness knows he has time to think on the life he's led up to when we meet him. As for Amanda, I love that the show got to give her more to do and more friends to associate with. Her friendship with Liam is fascinating. She really does love do-gooders, doesn't she? I'd be happy to see them both together, or either one of them solo, so if you're really feeling like you have an idea for a story with one or the other but not both? That's fine by me.
Please feel free to contact me through the Yuletide mods if you feel you need more information or have a question/concern about something. I'm more than happy to elaborate on a point or clarify. Thank you again for offering one of my tiny little fandoms and I hope you have a wonderful Yuletide!
