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blindmadness) wrote2017-10-08 11:31 am
blindmadness) wrote2017-10-08 11:31 am
Dear Yuletide Author,
Why hello there! ♥ I'm so glad to (er, sort of) meet you, and I'm so very glad you're writing something for me! First things first: I will love whatever you write me, I promise. A while back, my sister told me that I'm so easy to give gifts to, she could give me a raccoon that she found in the trash, and I would be delighted and name her Suzanne and make her a member of the family right away. AND SHE ISN'T WRONG.
... Er, I say this not to compare your fic to a trash raccoon (it's going to be so much better!!), but to assure you that as far as I'm concerned, it's the thought that counts, and I already think you're amazing just because you're reading this and getting ready to write me a thing! I'm happiest doing Yuletide when I'm pouring my heart into a prompt that's grabbed me and having fun with it, and I want you to have a happy Yuletide, too-- so follow your heart, even if it's not exactly what I've asked for! If you've enjoyed writing it, I promise you I'll enjoy reading it. ♥
Broadly speaking, the things usually I want out of Yuletide are character- rather than plot-driven stories (a good involved fic is always fun, but my faves tend to be stories that follow an emotional arc or a relationship development rather than characters dealing with an external conflict or a really intricate plot) with happy or at least hopeful endings (I'm fine with a more bittersweet light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel type ambiguity, but would really prefer more overt happiness, and I really and truly do not want any serious or lasting tragedy involved).
My major DNWs are needles (I have a huge phobia and would strongly prefer no mention of them at all, but if it does come up, please please please keep it brief and be sure to warn for me!) and serious issues beyond those explored in canon (e.g., racism, homophobia, character death, serious assault/injury, etc. etc.). To clarify what I mean, using examples from my requests this year: Miss Sloane involves a character that does a really awful thing to another character, and a traumatic event in the latter's background; not including those in the story would feel weird, since they have such a significant impact on the plot. In The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Mia deals with some implicit issues of sexism; I wouldn't want them to be a central part of the story, since they aren't front and center in canon, but they shouldn't be fully ignored, either. Meanwhile, while it's entirely possible that within the universe of American Bromance, Justin has dealt with racism, it would be totally antithetical to the mood of the canon to bring that up. So I don't want canon-specific issues ignored, but new ones shouldn't be introduced. (Homophobia especially is a big DNW for me, internalized or otherwise!)
More specifically, here are some overall likes and dislikes:
Likes: banter, UST/pining/slow burn, first kisses/makeouts that don't immediately lead to sex (either by design or by accidental interruption), subtle little nods to canon, gross fluffy ridiculous romcom-y tropes, people being very competent at what they do (and other people, ahem, enjoying it), found families, cute animals, puns, and my favorite characters/people having nice things and being happy!
Dislikes: misogyny in m/m relationships/demonization of female characters for the sake of m/m, misogynistic dirty talk (e.g., "slut"/"whore"), noncon/dubcon, A/B/O, excessive jealousy/possessiveness, first- or second-person POV, heavy kink (e.g., minor elements of D/s or bondage are fine, things like daddy kink less so), kidfic, and contrived miscommunication conflicts that could be resolved with a single, simple statement of clarification!
I'll specify my AU or porn preferences in each fandom section, but suffice it to say I'm generally down for either! For the most part, I've requested fandoms and characters here for which I'd most like to see shipfic; however, if I've written prompts for gen options, it's because I'm also genuinely interested in those. So if you're not feeling the ship, don't worry that you'll be disappointing me! Just because I have a preference doesn't mean it's the only thing that'll make me happy. ♥
Some more resources for you: my past letters are the last few posts on this journal, my trope and kink sorters, for some more specific ideas of things I like reading, and a non-comprehensive fandom list in case of crossover possibilities (don't feel the need to force it, but if something seems like it lends itself to the option, I'm certainly open to it!). I... basically have no public fannish presence anymore and I'm so sorry about that, but here's my AO3 and my liveblog Twitter, which will almost certainly be of no use to you, ha, but if you want to see me yell about stuff--!! :")
Now, ENOUGH OF THAT. Time for what we've all come to see-- the fandoms! \o/
Miss Sloane
• Elizabeth Sloane, Esme Manucharian
Pretty much anything with these two, ideally in a romantic/sexual context-- essentially my ideal prompt would be "THE MOVIE, BUT GAY." I loved their chemistry and the complexity involved with Liz being a terrible person; how would that play out if there was also an attraction between them? Are they together when Liz outs Esme (and if so, how did that happen?? What was their relationship like?)? Do they have hatesex afterward? Does Esme come visit Liz in prison? What happens between them after she's released? I'd also be fine for gen versions of post-canon prompts that explore their dynamic, whether Esme forgives Liz or gets any kind of closure.
Failing that, I'd also be down for backstory; we know some things about Esme, but what about Liz's life shaped her into the barely-person she is? What if things were different? What is her life like after prison? Really, any kind of character study on either of them would also be great.
I watched this movie recently and ended up loving it-- intense political drama with a FEMALE lead treated almost identically to how a man would be in the role? Well-reasoned and thorough gun control arguments (extremely relevant to my background in studying violent crime)? My wife Jessica Chastain fucking KILLING IT in the role? I enjoyed it so much, even though this style of movie isn't usually my jam!
I did come out of the movie with a deep desire to see some Gay Takes on the complex chemistry between Elizabeth and Esme, because WOW, but I figured it was obscure enough not to be a Yuletide fandom, so I wasn't planning on requesting it-- when behold, some wonderful person had nominated it after all!! (You can see my excitement on Twitter.) So thank you, glorious nominator, because I get to make the request that's been brewing in my heart for the last few weeks!!
Like I said, my ideal prompt would be "the movie, but gay." Give me the initial chemistry between them, their dinner out as a proper date; give me illicit makeouts or rushed bathroom sex in the office. Give me pining, longing looks and suppressed feelings; give me Liz convincing Esme to do all the publicity for the campaign, IN BED. Give me some kind of kinky dynamic with Liz exerting the same control in the bedroom as she does in the office, or Liz needing one place where she DOESN'T need to take control. Give me furious hatesex after Liz outs Esme, or in the airport! Give me tension with Esme visiting Liz in prison, or what happens after she's released. Basically, all of the complex admiring and resenting and furious and fiery moments we get in canon, but with sexual tension and/or release. Feel free to incorporate as many intensely complicated feelings as desired-- obviously their relationship is incredibly fucked up, so play that the hell up. I would prefer no noncon, but I'm perfectly fine with a total lack of tenderness or some degree of punishment from Esme if you go the post-canon route? >_> This is also the one canon in which I'm fine with an unhappy ending; I'm fine with Esme making the hard and complex decision to forgive Liz, but feel free to go with a very messy breakup in which neither of them feels fully satisfied, because that would also be extremely true to canon.
If you're not feeling the ship, I'd also be fine with gen expansion of whatever moments between them happen during the movie, or a post-canon scene; even if their dynamic isn't explicitly gay, I'm still super into it and would love to see more! If you'd rather focus on just one of them, that's fine too-- we see a fair amount of Esme's backstory in the movie, but any sort of pre-canon material from her would be great (just no focus on the actual shooting, please), and meanwhile, there's SO MUCH to be done with Elizabeth's. We know that she "had to" learn how to lie well; what was her home life like? We know that her mother was the only one to call her Madeline; does she avoid using the name now due to good or bad memories? (I'm fine with including whatever dark shit you'd like in her past, but I'd rather it not come up in explicit detail or be a huge central focus of the story.) How did she get into lobbying? What if she's visiting female escorts rather than male? Alternately, future fic with how she gets out of prison-- "and do[es] what?" What is she even able to she do after her career suicide? Like I said, any character-exploration from either of them would be delightful.
Porn, as alluded to earlier, is absolutely welcome, in pretty much whatever form. Because canon is so intense and specific and necessary to these characters and their dynamic, I'd prefer no AUs, unless you can find a way to recreate it in some kind of fantasy or sci-fi or space setting! Or even a mundane one, with more going on beneath the surface than it appears, though that might be, ah, much trickier. :") But again, the dynamic is what I'm after if your focus is on both of them, so I definitely need that preserved!!
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
• Mia Thermopolis, Nicholas Devereaux
Post-canon! So many unanswered questions! When do they get married? How do they rule together-- what kind of prince-consort is Nicholas? Do they ever butt heads on matters of state? What about kids? Basically any sort of look at what their lives are like after the end of the movie, or any look at what kind of queen Mia ends up being, or even a canon-divergent AU which preserves the initial animosity and belligerent UST between Nicholas and Mia (maybe he's the one she's arranged to marry? or he woos her while concealing the plot to steal her crown?).
I rewatched this movie for what's probably a double-digit time a couple months ago and was reminded of how much I love it-- it's pure, absurd candy, almost entirely the perfect tropey princess/queen fantasy. Mia does so much right, and even the trouble she has comes down to relatable and sympathetic reasons! She has an incredible set of closets with fancy clothing and jewels! She can throw giant parties for all her royal friends! She gets to learn how to do so much cool shit! She makes an earnest plea to a governing body and they change their country's ancient law for her! And, of course, she has a young Chris Pine swooning all over himself for her because she's just that awesome. (I don't say any of this begrudgingly; I fucking adore Mia. But it's just such a full-on fantasy scenario and it's so gloriously fun to watch!)
So what I really want to see is what happens for Mia and Nicholas post-movie! What's their relationship like? They both have to know that under their circumstances, marriage has to be on the table much sooner than usual; how do they handle that? Is it a point of contention or do they have faith in themselves and each other? When DO they get married? (What about their wedding night??) What's Nicholas like as prince-consort? What about kids? (Does Mia fight for equal inheritance for her daughters?) One of my favorite things about the movie is that Mia doesn't say "I love you" to Nicholas, or specifically answer his question about loving him, and it makes so much sense to me that his feelings would move faster than hers, so if you wanted to write the first time she does say it, that would be super lovely.
I'm more interested in a relationship focus than a political one, but I would also absolutely love it if you could incorporate some Queen Mia, even if it's just in the background. How does she adjust? Does she ever get homesick for the US? What kind of challenges does she face? Is she ever even a little tempted to give it all up? Is she able to pursue side hobbies/dreams in addition to queenship? How does she rule? What are her most valued causes? Again, please don't feel pressured to delve into this too seriously, but I definitely don't want her queenship to take a total backseat, since it's one of the most interesting things about the movie!
I could also be down for seeing some canon-divergent AUs; most of what I love about this movie and this ship is really specific to the setting, so I'd want to keep that around, but maybe instead of his uncle outright claiming Nicholas should be king, he suggests Nicholas woo Mia without revealing his motives? How would that go, and how bad would it be when she finally did find out the truth? (Still with an eventual happy ending, of course!) Or what if Nicholas and Mia have been betrothed since birth, and she comes to Genovia to be crowned and to finally meet him? Or how would it change things if it were Lady Nicola Devereaux instead? Or... whatever other scenario preserves their initial animosity in the same setting! I would also be down for seeing some Nicholas POV of the events of the movie, or even just a post-movie focus on Queen Mia alone, if (FOR SOME REASON) you don't feel like writing anything shippy. :")
As I said, I'd prefer no AUs unless they're specifically canon-divergent; I'm very, very okay with whatever rating, and would even be okay with PWP as long as there's at least a tiny bit of context provided! I also welcome whatever side characters you'd like to bring in-- Clarisse/Joe is my JAM, so please feel free to include as much of them as desired, as well as Lilly or Asana or Helen (or like, cameos from Andrew, updates from him/Elissa??), or whoever else!
Ladyboss - Rachel Bloom (Music Video)
• Rachel, Taylor
Rachel/Taylor following the breakdown of Taylor's internalized misogyny-- has she been nursing an antagonistic crush on Rachel the whole time? Do they start off as friends and then start dating, or do they start banging long before they realize feelings are being caught? Pretty much anything with the two of them together, along the lines of either romcom-y shenanigans or the sharp humor of the original video, would be delightful.
Alternately, give me some meta-humor with Rachel the Ladyboss-- how did she achieve her high status? What's a day in her life like? Does she serve as a (hilarious and often on-edge) mentor to young aspiring Ladybosses? Does she ever find the answer to "how much boob is too much boob"?
I recently watched all of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and, of couse, followed it up with as much of Rachel Bloom's other material as I could, because SHE'S SO GREAT!! One of those things was Ladyboss, a two-minute music video about the trials and tribulations of being a woman in a position of power-- extremely catchy and extremely relatable, much like most of the things Rachel Bloom does. :")
So after watching this, what I really wanted, of course, was Rachel/Taylor, the modern-day corporate enemies-to-lovers story we deserve!! I'd love to see pretty much anything regarding the development of their relationship; does Taylor know she's gay and does her antagonism stem from a suppressed crush? Or is it not until after she confronts her internalized misogyny that she starts having feelings? Is Rachel oblivious or has she been pining for a while? How do they deal with the #ladyboss/#ladyemployee ethical ramifications? Do they start banging before feelings come up or do they take things slow? Really, if you're a person who loves ridiculous romcom cliches and absurd humor, this would be the time to let them shine! However you want to get these two ladies together (as long as it keeps a relatively light tone!), I'm on board.
If lowkey antagonistic femslash wasn't really what you were looking for in this fun and ridiculous five-minute fandom, no big deal! I'd also welcome pretty much anything along the lines of the humor of the original, be it backstory or shenanigans. Like, how did Rachel become the #ladyboss? What exactly does her life as a #ladyboss entail? Does she mentor young future #ladybosses? Does she embark on an epic quest to finally figure out, once and for all, how much boob is too much boob?? What's her future family life like (since we see her daughter in the deathbed scene!)? Alternately, anything, like I said, in the spirit of the original would be fun. Since we know the music video is actually happening in her daily life, how did that come about? What if Rachel serves as a Sassy-Gay-Friend-esque advisor to women throughout literature, inspiring them to be the #ladyboss of their own narrative? Or... something! :") The story of women struggling with what it means to be in positions of power is SO universal, and there's clearly such a dark humor to it, there's so much to explore in there, and honestly I'd be happy with however you went about doing it!
This clearly isn't real RPF, ha, but if you'd like to draw from Rachel Bloom's real life in portraying fictional Rachel, I have no objections-- or feel free to invent wholescale, either way! I'd probably prefer no AUs for this, but if you think you can capture that sense of awkwardness and potential antagonism around being a #ladyboss in AU form, go for it. I'm totally fine with porn or even PWP as long as there's a bit of context, and while obviously some discussion of issues of sexism is 100% fine, like I said, I'd prefer the tone to stay on the lighter side, as the video itself does!
American Bromance (Short Film)
• Zack, Justin
MAKE IT GAY, FRIEND. Give me the story of this trailer, but make it explicitly about Justin and Zack falling in love for realskies. Whether it's a straight-up romcom or also a coming-out narrative for one or both of them, whether there's lengthy one-sided or mutual pining or whether there's an immediately acknowledged attraction, whether Ryan is an ex or just the as-is douchey former BFF, however it may strike your fancy, as long as there's a happy gay ending.
I requested this fandom last year, and received two beautiful ficlets, and they were exactly what I wanted and they made me so happy and now I WANT THIS TO BE SUCH A GIANT FANDOM, so I'm requesting it again because I am so!! greedy!! for more!!! (Here's the video!)
What I want is still essentially what I requested last year (hence basically c&ping my prior sign-up prompt!), so please don't let the relative shortness of this request put you off-- I just don't want to rehash the same thing verbatim when linking last year's request is much simpler! I pretty much just want the story presented in the trailer (or any of the specific scenes from it, either present or implied!), BUT GAY. Give me a standard romcom, or one or both of them being really confused by their brand new feelings for a dude, mutual pining or one-sided pining until THE OTHER ONE SUDDENLY REALIZES--, or even PWP. Really, this is the place to let your grossest, tropiest ideas come to life in the form of these ridiculous bros falling super in love.
Ryan isn't nominated this year, so feel free to not focus on him as much; like I said last year, I'd prefer for him not to be outright evil, though I don't mind if he gets some degree of redemption. To reiterate a couple other things, too: I'd prefer no AUs, but go where your heart takes you, and I'd rather v little to no homophobia, internalized or otherwise. The mood should definitely be overall quite fluffy, even if canon angst occasionally intervenes! And if for some reason you've watched this and DON'T want it to be extremely gay and have other ideas for something to write... lead me on that adventure! I'm down for whatever you've got.
Yoplait Oui "French Girl" Commercial
• Mélanie, Jean-Jacques, Jean-Pierre, Jean-Luc
The poly adventures of Melanie and her boyfriends! How did they start dating? Are the guys all dating each other, too? How does her dog feel about them? Was the yogurt involved in any way? Just some fluff involving these four attractive French people-- I welcome humor, silliness, a little crack, romantic tropes... really, whatever light-hearted adventures you think they'd be up to. I'm very flexible as long as they're all involved and having a good time!
This is almost certainly one of the silliest fandoms I've ever requested, if not #1 on the list; it's a series of commercials for Yoplait's new French-style yogurt, and it stars a lady called Mélanie who is CLEARLY living her best life. You can watch the whole playlist of all seven commercials here (the first one is sort of an amalgam of all the themes the others expand on), but the second one was the first I saw and the one I actually nominated, so it's the only one that's necessary to watch. (Think of the rest as extra-canonical materials! :'D I'll be using details from them for prompting here, but feel free to just invent your own backgrounds for these characters instead.)
This ad caught my eye because of the lovely and simple incidence of poly-- this is Mélanie, and she's dating three dudes! She's clearly having a great time, and I was just so charmed by the over-the-top false Frenchness of it all. The other ads, too, are great; I just love thinking about how confident Mélanie is in her enjoyment of the finer things in life, and how happy she seems with her three beautiful boyfriends, cute dog, and delicious yogurt. It's quite silly, like I said, but something about that beautiful artsy depiction of a woman's everyday life and small luxuries really appealed to me. :")
So... tell me a story about Mélanie and her Jeans! How did they meet? How do they schedule time with her, or are all of them dating too? (Did she meet any of them through each other -- like, are they best friends or college roommates or...? -- or did they meet through Mélanie?) The first ad implies pretty heavily that she's only dating them because she likes the name "Jean" so much; is it a more casual relationship between Melanie and the three of them, while two or three of the Jeans are actually quite serious about one another? Or is it serious for everyone involved? Meanwhile, some of the other commercials show Jean-Pierre with her at the market, Jean-Luc waiting for her, and Jean-Jacques reading to her, so feel free to incorporate any of that! Do the men ever get tired of having to wait for her to finish her yogurt (or whatever else she does)? How do they resolve that? How do they make her (ahem) feel special? How does her dog feel about them? Really, whatever ridiculous romantic poly fluff you can come up with about these four beautiful French people is going to be so much fun for me to read; nothing is too silly or fluffy or self-indulgent.
I'd prefer any porn with a side of plot (or at least fluff and/or crack) here, and like I said, I'm really quite flexible with whatever you come up with for this very silly fandom! Feel free to just take a wholly humorous note as long as you're not overtly mocking the poly arrangement or demonizing Mélanie; I'm also totally fine with playing up the gentle mockery of French culture from the original, so riff on that as much as you'd like. Basically I'd like the tone to be light-hearted and some degree of genuine romance to be involved (between any of the four parties!), but apart from that I'm pretty much giving you free rein here! Have fun with it. :")
Academy Awards RPF
• Dev Patel, Andrew Garfield
I would genuinely be thrilled with almost anything involving these two beautiful, intelligent, handsome men. Their interactions at the Oscars in a romantic light! Attending one another's movie premieres! What if they work together at some point and end up involved in a thrilling costar romance? How do they handle Going Public? What about an AU in which they grew up together and one of them has always carried a torch, or only one of them is an actor and the other one feels the ~pressure of being in the public eye but eventually decides their love is worth it? Bring me all of the romcom tropes incorporating their beautiful Oscars chemistry and the clear admiration they have for one another!
Are you noticing a trend in the types of prompts I'm largely requesting this year? :") I can't help it-- ever since I saw that hug at the Oscars, I've been totally enamored of these two together. When I saw gifs of Dev gazing at Andrew during the Hollywood Reporter round table, it was pretty much sealed. I HAD to read about them falling in love. (If you were unlucky enough to miss witnessing these beautiful moments, this is a pretty delightful complication of Twitter reactions, while this contains some more commentary, as well as the full round table. It's about an hour and Casey Affleck aside, it's worth watching, but if you're short on time/patience, I've compiled a post of key Dev/Andrew moments here.)
I have to make a confession here: I've seen Andrew Garfield in exactly two movies (The Social Network, of course,and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which I barely remember because, uh, what) and Dev Patel in... uh, exactly zero, and absolutely no other promotional materials of any sort involving either of them. So the great majority of what I know about them is basically contained to the above links, which means pretty much however creative you'd like to get with their personalities and backgrounds, bring it on, friend! I sure won't know the difference. :")
Since this canon basically involves, like, one hug with lots of sweet lingering eye contact, there's a TON of flexibility here as to how this can play out. Give me Andrew and Dev's "meet-cute," as Bravo delightfully puts it, at the round table-- give me them admiring one another's acting and turns of phrase and relating to one another. (As I point out in the Google Doc, Andrew's monologue around 38:00 could be his subtle attempt at coming out to Dev; why would he do that when, as far as we know, this could be their first meeting?) When they reunite at the Oscars, how does that go? Is their courtship slow or do they go for it right away (I would SO not say no to some limo sex here)? Is there pining for a while on either side? Are one or both of them previously unaware that they were even into dudes? In the round table video, Andrew mentions that he'd be interested in writing his own movie, but would need the right story; what if he gets Dev on board for that? What does that story look like? How do they work together?
I'd also be fine with some "canon-divergent" AUs; like, what if they're childhood friends who lost touch, then found each other again once they both started acting? Or if only one of them became an actor and they have a more normal meet-cute with the non-famous one? (How's the pressure of dating an actor for them?) Or if they met on the set of a movie instead? (What if it's a movie in which they play boyfriends, and do some low-key exploring of their own sexualities in the meantime?) Or even a full AU: college! Coffee shop! Royalty/arranged marriage! Fantasy! Sci-fi! Space! Imagine Me and You AU in which Dev and Andrew meet at Andrew's wedding to Emma (or Dev's wedding to Freida)! ... Really, there's no bad here. :") This IS the one fandom for which I would genuinely not want anything other than shipfic, so I very much hope that's something you can do. ♥
Couple other small things: Dev is apparently a black belt in taekwando, while Andrew used to be a gymnast (and also a fan of stamps, the big nerd), soooo feel free to incorporate that!! On a related note, ha, I'm perfecty fine with porn (like I said, especially if it's post-Oscars limo sex?? !!!) as long as there's some context, and like I said, feel free to go wild with AUs. I'd also be down for some rule 63, with either Dev or Andrew (or both!) as ladies! Follow your heart, friends; what I'd really like to see is no intense trauma or harm, no homophobia (internalized or otherwise), and a happy ending for the two of them. However we get there is entirely up to you!
... Er, I say this not to compare your fic to a trash raccoon (it's going to be so much better!!), but to assure you that as far as I'm concerned, it's the thought that counts, and I already think you're amazing just because you're reading this and getting ready to write me a thing! I'm happiest doing Yuletide when I'm pouring my heart into a prompt that's grabbed me and having fun with it, and I want you to have a happy Yuletide, too-- so follow your heart, even if it's not exactly what I've asked for! If you've enjoyed writing it, I promise you I'll enjoy reading it. ♥
Broadly speaking, the things usually I want out of Yuletide are character- rather than plot-driven stories (a good involved fic is always fun, but my faves tend to be stories that follow an emotional arc or a relationship development rather than characters dealing with an external conflict or a really intricate plot) with happy or at least hopeful endings (I'm fine with a more bittersweet light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel type ambiguity, but would really prefer more overt happiness, and I really and truly do not want any serious or lasting tragedy involved).
My major DNWs are needles (I have a huge phobia and would strongly prefer no mention of them at all, but if it does come up, please please please keep it brief and be sure to warn for me!) and serious issues beyond those explored in canon (e.g., racism, homophobia, character death, serious assault/injury, etc. etc.). To clarify what I mean, using examples from my requests this year: Miss Sloane involves a character that does a really awful thing to another character, and a traumatic event in the latter's background; not including those in the story would feel weird, since they have such a significant impact on the plot. In The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Mia deals with some implicit issues of sexism; I wouldn't want them to be a central part of the story, since they aren't front and center in canon, but they shouldn't be fully ignored, either. Meanwhile, while it's entirely possible that within the universe of American Bromance, Justin has dealt with racism, it would be totally antithetical to the mood of the canon to bring that up. So I don't want canon-specific issues ignored, but new ones shouldn't be introduced. (Homophobia especially is a big DNW for me, internalized or otherwise!)
More specifically, here are some overall likes and dislikes:
Likes: banter, UST/pining/slow burn, first kisses/makeouts that don't immediately lead to sex (either by design or by accidental interruption), subtle little nods to canon, gross fluffy ridiculous romcom-y tropes, people being very competent at what they do (and other people, ahem, enjoying it), found families, cute animals, puns, and my favorite characters/people having nice things and being happy!
Dislikes: misogyny in m/m relationships/demonization of female characters for the sake of m/m, misogynistic dirty talk (e.g., "slut"/"whore"), noncon/dubcon, A/B/O, excessive jealousy/possessiveness, first- or second-person POV, heavy kink (e.g., minor elements of D/s or bondage are fine, things like daddy kink less so), kidfic, and contrived miscommunication conflicts that could be resolved with a single, simple statement of clarification!
I'll specify my AU or porn preferences in each fandom section, but suffice it to say I'm generally down for either! For the most part, I've requested fandoms and characters here for which I'd most like to see shipfic; however, if I've written prompts for gen options, it's because I'm also genuinely interested in those. So if you're not feeling the ship, don't worry that you'll be disappointing me! Just because I have a preference doesn't mean it's the only thing that'll make me happy. ♥
Some more resources for you: my past letters are the last few posts on this journal, my trope and kink sorters, for some more specific ideas of things I like reading, and a non-comprehensive fandom list in case of crossover possibilities (don't feel the need to force it, but if something seems like it lends itself to the option, I'm certainly open to it!). I... basically have no public fannish presence anymore and I'm so sorry about that, but here's my AO3 and my liveblog Twitter, which will almost certainly be of no use to you, ha, but if you want to see me yell about stuff--!! :")
Now, ENOUGH OF THAT. Time for what we've all come to see-- the fandoms! \o/
Miss Sloane
• Elizabeth Sloane, Esme Manucharian
Pretty much anything with these two, ideally in a romantic/sexual context-- essentially my ideal prompt would be "THE MOVIE, BUT GAY." I loved their chemistry and the complexity involved with Liz being a terrible person; how would that play out if there was also an attraction between them? Are they together when Liz outs Esme (and if so, how did that happen?? What was their relationship like?)? Do they have hatesex afterward? Does Esme come visit Liz in prison? What happens between them after she's released? I'd also be fine for gen versions of post-canon prompts that explore their dynamic, whether Esme forgives Liz or gets any kind of closure.
Failing that, I'd also be down for backstory; we know some things about Esme, but what about Liz's life shaped her into the barely-person she is? What if things were different? What is her life like after prison? Really, any kind of character study on either of them would also be great.
I watched this movie recently and ended up loving it-- intense political drama with a FEMALE lead treated almost identically to how a man would be in the role? Well-reasoned and thorough gun control arguments (extremely relevant to my background in studying violent crime)? My wife Jessica Chastain fucking KILLING IT in the role? I enjoyed it so much, even though this style of movie isn't usually my jam!
I did come out of the movie with a deep desire to see some Gay Takes on the complex chemistry between Elizabeth and Esme, because WOW, but I figured it was obscure enough not to be a Yuletide fandom, so I wasn't planning on requesting it-- when behold, some wonderful person had nominated it after all!! (You can see my excitement on Twitter.) So thank you, glorious nominator, because I get to make the request that's been brewing in my heart for the last few weeks!!
Like I said, my ideal prompt would be "the movie, but gay." Give me the initial chemistry between them, their dinner out as a proper date; give me illicit makeouts or rushed bathroom sex in the office. Give me pining, longing looks and suppressed feelings; give me Liz convincing Esme to do all the publicity for the campaign, IN BED. Give me some kind of kinky dynamic with Liz exerting the same control in the bedroom as she does in the office, or Liz needing one place where she DOESN'T need to take control. Give me furious hatesex after Liz outs Esme, or in the airport! Give me tension with Esme visiting Liz in prison, or what happens after she's released. Basically, all of the complex admiring and resenting and furious and fiery moments we get in canon, but with sexual tension and/or release. Feel free to incorporate as many intensely complicated feelings as desired-- obviously their relationship is incredibly fucked up, so play that the hell up. I would prefer no noncon, but I'm perfectly fine with a total lack of tenderness or some degree of punishment from Esme if you go the post-canon route? >_> This is also the one canon in which I'm fine with an unhappy ending; I'm fine with Esme making the hard and complex decision to forgive Liz, but feel free to go with a very messy breakup in which neither of them feels fully satisfied, because that would also be extremely true to canon.
If you're not feeling the ship, I'd also be fine with gen expansion of whatever moments between them happen during the movie, or a post-canon scene; even if their dynamic isn't explicitly gay, I'm still super into it and would love to see more! If you'd rather focus on just one of them, that's fine too-- we see a fair amount of Esme's backstory in the movie, but any sort of pre-canon material from her would be great (just no focus on the actual shooting, please), and meanwhile, there's SO MUCH to be done with Elizabeth's. We know that she "had to" learn how to lie well; what was her home life like? We know that her mother was the only one to call her Madeline; does she avoid using the name now due to good or bad memories? (I'm fine with including whatever dark shit you'd like in her past, but I'd rather it not come up in explicit detail or be a huge central focus of the story.) How did she get into lobbying? What if she's visiting female escorts rather than male? Alternately, future fic with how she gets out of prison-- "and do[es] what?" What is she even able to she do after her career suicide? Like I said, any character-exploration from either of them would be delightful.
Porn, as alluded to earlier, is absolutely welcome, in pretty much whatever form. Because canon is so intense and specific and necessary to these characters and their dynamic, I'd prefer no AUs, unless you can find a way to recreate it in some kind of fantasy or sci-fi or space setting! Or even a mundane one, with more going on beneath the surface than it appears, though that might be, ah, much trickier. :") But again, the dynamic is what I'm after if your focus is on both of them, so I definitely need that preserved!!
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
• Mia Thermopolis, Nicholas Devereaux
Post-canon! So many unanswered questions! When do they get married? How do they rule together-- what kind of prince-consort is Nicholas? Do they ever butt heads on matters of state? What about kids? Basically any sort of look at what their lives are like after the end of the movie, or any look at what kind of queen Mia ends up being, or even a canon-divergent AU which preserves the initial animosity and belligerent UST between Nicholas and Mia (maybe he's the one she's arranged to marry? or he woos her while concealing the plot to steal her crown?).
I rewatched this movie for what's probably a double-digit time a couple months ago and was reminded of how much I love it-- it's pure, absurd candy, almost entirely the perfect tropey princess/queen fantasy. Mia does so much right, and even the trouble she has comes down to relatable and sympathetic reasons! She has an incredible set of closets with fancy clothing and jewels! She can throw giant parties for all her royal friends! She gets to learn how to do so much cool shit! She makes an earnest plea to a governing body and they change their country's ancient law for her! And, of course, she has a young Chris Pine swooning all over himself for her because she's just that awesome. (I don't say any of this begrudgingly; I fucking adore Mia. But it's just such a full-on fantasy scenario and it's so gloriously fun to watch!)
So what I really want to see is what happens for Mia and Nicholas post-movie! What's their relationship like? They both have to know that under their circumstances, marriage has to be on the table much sooner than usual; how do they handle that? Is it a point of contention or do they have faith in themselves and each other? When DO they get married? (What about their wedding night??) What's Nicholas like as prince-consort? What about kids? (Does Mia fight for equal inheritance for her daughters?) One of my favorite things about the movie is that Mia doesn't say "I love you" to Nicholas, or specifically answer his question about loving him, and it makes so much sense to me that his feelings would move faster than hers, so if you wanted to write the first time she does say it, that would be super lovely.
I'm more interested in a relationship focus than a political one, but I would also absolutely love it if you could incorporate some Queen Mia, even if it's just in the background. How does she adjust? Does she ever get homesick for the US? What kind of challenges does she face? Is she ever even a little tempted to give it all up? Is she able to pursue side hobbies/dreams in addition to queenship? How does she rule? What are her most valued causes? Again, please don't feel pressured to delve into this too seriously, but I definitely don't want her queenship to take a total backseat, since it's one of the most interesting things about the movie!
I could also be down for seeing some canon-divergent AUs; most of what I love about this movie and this ship is really specific to the setting, so I'd want to keep that around, but maybe instead of his uncle outright claiming Nicholas should be king, he suggests Nicholas woo Mia without revealing his motives? How would that go, and how bad would it be when she finally did find out the truth? (Still with an eventual happy ending, of course!) Or what if Nicholas and Mia have been betrothed since birth, and she comes to Genovia to be crowned and to finally meet him? Or how would it change things if it were Lady Nicola Devereaux instead? Or... whatever other scenario preserves their initial animosity in the same setting! I would also be down for seeing some Nicholas POV of the events of the movie, or even just a post-movie focus on Queen Mia alone, if (FOR SOME REASON) you don't feel like writing anything shippy. :")
As I said, I'd prefer no AUs unless they're specifically canon-divergent; I'm very, very okay with whatever rating, and would even be okay with PWP as long as there's at least a tiny bit of context provided! I also welcome whatever side characters you'd like to bring in-- Clarisse/Joe is my JAM, so please feel free to include as much of them as desired, as well as Lilly or Asana or Helen (or like, cameos from Andrew, updates from him/Elissa??), or whoever else!
Ladyboss - Rachel Bloom (Music Video)
• Rachel, Taylor
Rachel/Taylor following the breakdown of Taylor's internalized misogyny-- has she been nursing an antagonistic crush on Rachel the whole time? Do they start off as friends and then start dating, or do they start banging long before they realize feelings are being caught? Pretty much anything with the two of them together, along the lines of either romcom-y shenanigans or the sharp humor of the original video, would be delightful.
Alternately, give me some meta-humor with Rachel the Ladyboss-- how did she achieve her high status? What's a day in her life like? Does she serve as a (hilarious and often on-edge) mentor to young aspiring Ladybosses? Does she ever find the answer to "how much boob is too much boob"?
I recently watched all of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and, of couse, followed it up with as much of Rachel Bloom's other material as I could, because SHE'S SO GREAT!! One of those things was Ladyboss, a two-minute music video about the trials and tribulations of being a woman in a position of power-- extremely catchy and extremely relatable, much like most of the things Rachel Bloom does. :")
So after watching this, what I really wanted, of course, was Rachel/Taylor, the modern-day corporate enemies-to-lovers story we deserve!! I'd love to see pretty much anything regarding the development of their relationship; does Taylor know she's gay and does her antagonism stem from a suppressed crush? Or is it not until after she confronts her internalized misogyny that she starts having feelings? Is Rachel oblivious or has she been pining for a while? How do they deal with the #ladyboss/#ladyemployee ethical ramifications? Do they start banging before feelings come up or do they take things slow? Really, if you're a person who loves ridiculous romcom cliches and absurd humor, this would be the time to let them shine! However you want to get these two ladies together (as long as it keeps a relatively light tone!), I'm on board.
If lowkey antagonistic femslash wasn't really what you were looking for in this fun and ridiculous five-minute fandom, no big deal! I'd also welcome pretty much anything along the lines of the humor of the original, be it backstory or shenanigans. Like, how did Rachel become the #ladyboss? What exactly does her life as a #ladyboss entail? Does she mentor young future #ladybosses? Does she embark on an epic quest to finally figure out, once and for all, how much boob is too much boob?? What's her future family life like (since we see her daughter in the deathbed scene!)? Alternately, anything, like I said, in the spirit of the original would be fun. Since we know the music video is actually happening in her daily life, how did that come about? What if Rachel serves as a Sassy-Gay-Friend-esque advisor to women throughout literature, inspiring them to be the #ladyboss of their own narrative? Or... something! :") The story of women struggling with what it means to be in positions of power is SO universal, and there's clearly such a dark humor to it, there's so much to explore in there, and honestly I'd be happy with however you went about doing it!
This clearly isn't real RPF, ha, but if you'd like to draw from Rachel Bloom's real life in portraying fictional Rachel, I have no objections-- or feel free to invent wholescale, either way! I'd probably prefer no AUs for this, but if you think you can capture that sense of awkwardness and potential antagonism around being a #ladyboss in AU form, go for it. I'm totally fine with porn or even PWP as long as there's a bit of context, and while obviously some discussion of issues of sexism is 100% fine, like I said, I'd prefer the tone to stay on the lighter side, as the video itself does!
American Bromance (Short Film)
• Zack, Justin
MAKE IT GAY, FRIEND. Give me the story of this trailer, but make it explicitly about Justin and Zack falling in love for realskies. Whether it's a straight-up romcom or also a coming-out narrative for one or both of them, whether there's lengthy one-sided or mutual pining or whether there's an immediately acknowledged attraction, whether Ryan is an ex or just the as-is douchey former BFF, however it may strike your fancy, as long as there's a happy gay ending.
I requested this fandom last year, and received two beautiful ficlets, and they were exactly what I wanted and they made me so happy and now I WANT THIS TO BE SUCH A GIANT FANDOM, so I'm requesting it again because I am so!! greedy!! for more!!! (Here's the video!)
What I want is still essentially what I requested last year (hence basically c&ping my prior sign-up prompt!), so please don't let the relative shortness of this request put you off-- I just don't want to rehash the same thing verbatim when linking last year's request is much simpler! I pretty much just want the story presented in the trailer (or any of the specific scenes from it, either present or implied!), BUT GAY. Give me a standard romcom, or one or both of them being really confused by their brand new feelings for a dude, mutual pining or one-sided pining until THE OTHER ONE SUDDENLY REALIZES--, or even PWP. Really, this is the place to let your grossest, tropiest ideas come to life in the form of these ridiculous bros falling super in love.
Ryan isn't nominated this year, so feel free to not focus on him as much; like I said last year, I'd prefer for him not to be outright evil, though I don't mind if he gets some degree of redemption. To reiterate a couple other things, too: I'd prefer no AUs, but go where your heart takes you, and I'd rather v little to no homophobia, internalized or otherwise. The mood should definitely be overall quite fluffy, even if canon angst occasionally intervenes! And if for some reason you've watched this and DON'T want it to be extremely gay and have other ideas for something to write... lead me on that adventure! I'm down for whatever you've got.
Yoplait Oui "French Girl" Commercial
• Mélanie, Jean-Jacques, Jean-Pierre, Jean-Luc
The poly adventures of Melanie and her boyfriends! How did they start dating? Are the guys all dating each other, too? How does her dog feel about them? Was the yogurt involved in any way? Just some fluff involving these four attractive French people-- I welcome humor, silliness, a little crack, romantic tropes... really, whatever light-hearted adventures you think they'd be up to. I'm very flexible as long as they're all involved and having a good time!
This is almost certainly one of the silliest fandoms I've ever requested, if not #1 on the list; it's a series of commercials for Yoplait's new French-style yogurt, and it stars a lady called Mélanie who is CLEARLY living her best life. You can watch the whole playlist of all seven commercials here (the first one is sort of an amalgam of all the themes the others expand on), but the second one was the first I saw and the one I actually nominated, so it's the only one that's necessary to watch. (Think of the rest as extra-canonical materials! :'D I'll be using details from them for prompting here, but feel free to just invent your own backgrounds for these characters instead.)
This ad caught my eye because of the lovely and simple incidence of poly-- this is Mélanie, and she's dating three dudes! She's clearly having a great time, and I was just so charmed by the over-the-top false Frenchness of it all. The other ads, too, are great; I just love thinking about how confident Mélanie is in her enjoyment of the finer things in life, and how happy she seems with her three beautiful boyfriends, cute dog, and delicious yogurt. It's quite silly, like I said, but something about that beautiful artsy depiction of a woman's everyday life and small luxuries really appealed to me. :")
So... tell me a story about Mélanie and her Jeans! How did they meet? How do they schedule time with her, or are all of them dating too? (Did she meet any of them through each other -- like, are they best friends or college roommates or...? -- or did they meet through Mélanie?) The first ad implies pretty heavily that she's only dating them because she likes the name "Jean" so much; is it a more casual relationship between Melanie and the three of them, while two or three of the Jeans are actually quite serious about one another? Or is it serious for everyone involved? Meanwhile, some of the other commercials show Jean-Pierre with her at the market, Jean-Luc waiting for her, and Jean-Jacques reading to her, so feel free to incorporate any of that! Do the men ever get tired of having to wait for her to finish her yogurt (or whatever else she does)? How do they resolve that? How do they make her (ahem) feel special? How does her dog feel about them? Really, whatever ridiculous romantic poly fluff you can come up with about these four beautiful French people is going to be so much fun for me to read; nothing is too silly or fluffy or self-indulgent.
I'd prefer any porn with a side of plot (or at least fluff and/or crack) here, and like I said, I'm really quite flexible with whatever you come up with for this very silly fandom! Feel free to just take a wholly humorous note as long as you're not overtly mocking the poly arrangement or demonizing Mélanie; I'm also totally fine with playing up the gentle mockery of French culture from the original, so riff on that as much as you'd like. Basically I'd like the tone to be light-hearted and some degree of genuine romance to be involved (between any of the four parties!), but apart from that I'm pretty much giving you free rein here! Have fun with it. :")
Academy Awards RPF
• Dev Patel, Andrew Garfield
I would genuinely be thrilled with almost anything involving these two beautiful, intelligent, handsome men. Their interactions at the Oscars in a romantic light! Attending one another's movie premieres! What if they work together at some point and end up involved in a thrilling costar romance? How do they handle Going Public? What about an AU in which they grew up together and one of them has always carried a torch, or only one of them is an actor and the other one feels the ~pressure of being in the public eye but eventually decides their love is worth it? Bring me all of the romcom tropes incorporating their beautiful Oscars chemistry and the clear admiration they have for one another!
Are you noticing a trend in the types of prompts I'm largely requesting this year? :") I can't help it-- ever since I saw that hug at the Oscars, I've been totally enamored of these two together. When I saw gifs of Dev gazing at Andrew during the Hollywood Reporter round table, it was pretty much sealed. I HAD to read about them falling in love. (If you were unlucky enough to miss witnessing these beautiful moments, this is a pretty delightful complication of Twitter reactions, while this contains some more commentary, as well as the full round table. It's about an hour and Casey Affleck aside, it's worth watching, but if you're short on time/patience, I've compiled a post of key Dev/Andrew moments here.)
I have to make a confession here: I've seen Andrew Garfield in exactly two movies (The Social Network, of course,and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which I barely remember because, uh, what) and Dev Patel in... uh, exactly zero, and absolutely no other promotional materials of any sort involving either of them. So the great majority of what I know about them is basically contained to the above links, which means pretty much however creative you'd like to get with their personalities and backgrounds, bring it on, friend! I sure won't know the difference. :")
Since this canon basically involves, like, one hug with lots of sweet lingering eye contact, there's a TON of flexibility here as to how this can play out. Give me Andrew and Dev's "meet-cute," as Bravo delightfully puts it, at the round table-- give me them admiring one another's acting and turns of phrase and relating to one another. (As I point out in the Google Doc, Andrew's monologue around 38:00 could be his subtle attempt at coming out to Dev; why would he do that when, as far as we know, this could be their first meeting?) When they reunite at the Oscars, how does that go? Is their courtship slow or do they go for it right away (I would SO not say no to some limo sex here)? Is there pining for a while on either side? Are one or both of them previously unaware that they were even into dudes? In the round table video, Andrew mentions that he'd be interested in writing his own movie, but would need the right story; what if he gets Dev on board for that? What does that story look like? How do they work together?
I'd also be fine with some "canon-divergent" AUs; like, what if they're childhood friends who lost touch, then found each other again once they both started acting? Or if only one of them became an actor and they have a more normal meet-cute with the non-famous one? (How's the pressure of dating an actor for them?) Or if they met on the set of a movie instead? (What if it's a movie in which they play boyfriends, and do some low-key exploring of their own sexualities in the meantime?) Or even a full AU: college! Coffee shop! Royalty/arranged marriage! Fantasy! Sci-fi! Space! Imagine Me and You AU in which Dev and Andrew meet at Andrew's wedding to Emma (or Dev's wedding to Freida)! ... Really, there's no bad here. :") This IS the one fandom for which I would genuinely not want anything other than shipfic, so I very much hope that's something you can do. ♥
Couple other small things: Dev is apparently a black belt in taekwando, while Andrew used to be a gymnast (and also a fan of stamps, the big nerd), soooo feel free to incorporate that!! On a related note, ha, I'm perfecty fine with porn (like I said, especially if it's post-Oscars limo sex?? !!!) as long as there's some context, and like I said, feel free to go wild with AUs. I'd also be down for some rule 63, with either Dev or Andrew (or both!) as ladies! Follow your heart, friends; what I'd really like to see is no intense trauma or harm, no homophobia (internalized or otherwise), and a happy ending for the two of them. However we get there is entirely up to you!