Dear Yuletide Writer (Finished!)

[derwent_f]

Hello dear writer! Thank you so much for offering one of my fandoms!

You can find me on AO3 as derwent. You can find past exchange letters here, though there aren't many of them.

The followings are merely suggestions; hopefully you'll find them helpful. I'm completely aware that Optional Details are Optional, so if none of the prompts I give speak to you, please feel free to mix and match, or even to go your own way, as long as you heed the DNWs and include my requested characters. Feel free to write in unrequested characters if it would help the story. Some of the requests are shorter than the others, but that doesn't mean I want them any less. Also, most of my DNWs are more of the just-in-case variety -- not likely to come up, but just to be on the safe side.

If you have any questions or need clarification, please feel free to reach me through the mods!


General Likes:

• All level of ratings
• Historical- and canon-typical language, violence, attitudes, and darkness levels all welcome, and in fact preferred
• For shipping: gen, het, pre-slash, and slash (including femslash) are all welcome, as are ambiguous relationships and complicated feelings (although please check specific fandom!)
• Fics that explore characters' daily life/domesticity
• Quiet little moments in relationships
• Early relationship friction, where the partners are still adjusting to being with/living with each other
• Simple or unconventional gestures of affection
• Friends-to-lovers
• Enemies-to-lovers
• Enemies-to-friends-to-lovers
• Long relationships that go through changes
• Emotional vulnerability
• (Emotional) hurt/comfort
• Obvious feelings that don't quite get admitted to
• Morally grey characters
• Moral complexity
• Sympathetic terrible people/bad guys with moments of goodness/vulnerability
• Power dynamics
• Characters pining for each other, and then finding out their feelings are reciprocated
• Physical affection and intimacy, whether romantic, sexual, or platonic
• Little moments that reveal something significant
• Unexpected moments of kindness and connection
• Navigating complicated relationships
• Characters that never say what they mean but eventually have to confront their feelings
• Dysfunctional relationships
• Codependency
• Uncertain intimacy
• Smut: all kinds of sex, from gentle lovemaking to playful sex to rough BDSM to violent noncon
• Slice of life

General DNWs:

• Death of requested characters (threat of death is fine)
• Unrequested pairings for the requested characters (mention of past relationships is fine. For Fargo, mention of canonical relationships is also fine.)
• Unrequested changes to requested characters' canon sexuality/gender/race/disability/ethnicity
• Unrequested alternate setting AUs (e.g. Coffee shop, high school)
• Crack fic (crack treated seriously is fine)
• Parody
• Genderswaps
• Characters turned into kids
• Time traveling/time loop
• Unrequested issue fic and/or fix-it fic, especially those that attempt to fix or right the problematic elements (e.g. misogyny, homophobia, etc.) in canon. Briefly addressing those issues is fine, but please don't make it the focus of the fic.
• Any mention of Covid-19 and current RL politics/situation
• Permanent mutilation/disfigurement/injury
• Genres: sci-fi and fantasy, dystopian, post-apocalyptic (a few individual tropes are fine)
• Infidelity
• First person POV and all lowercase writing

Smut DNWs:

• Scat, watersports
• Vore
• Rimming/felching/any ass-to-mouth stuff (including toys)
• Fat fetishizing/weight gain fetishizing/feederism/stuffing
• Belly bulge/come inflation
• Vomit
• Girl penis (ovipositor is fine)
• The spelling 'cum'
• Characters below 14 in sexual situations
• Genital and breast injury/mutilation
• Humiliation
• Diaper/bottle/pacifier sex stuff

For fandom-specific DNWs and prompts:


Fargo (TV): Hank Larsson, Lou Solverson

Fandom-specific DNW: Hank/Lou (please keep their relationship platonic!)

I love their relationship: the banter, the unspoken yet obvious care and love they have for each other. I also love how competent they are, especially compared to other law enforcement figures. I enjoyed every scene where they appear, but if I have to pick my favourites, it would be the scene where they  talk about war, and the scene where Hank get shot and Lou finds him (I might've cried a little). I really admire their determination and soldier-on attitude, like Hank not understanding how the world has become so violent, and yet he keeps doing what he can to help. Or Lou being run out of town but going back anyway to warn the other officers about the Gerhardts.

And I can't get over their simple, wholesome family love, whether for each other, for Betsy, and for Molly. And yet, that love doesn't make them perfect: they obviously struggle to talk to Betsy about her illness. That moment when Lou said he thought Betsy got the real pills, which in context, is basically him admitting that Betsy would die soon just about broke my heart.

Please keep the setting before/during/not long after season 2.

Prompts:

• The scene where they sit and talk about their experience at war. They're both veterans, but for vastly different wars, as Hank himself acknowledges. I especially love this quote: "After WWII, we went six years without a murder here. Six years. These days... well, sometimes I wonder if you boys didn't bring that war home with you." So, how does this fact affect their relationship? Does Hank ever feel frustrated over how Vietnam War fucked up Lou and other young men? Does he feel like he could've done more to support Lou after war? Those first months/year after Lou got home after the war: what was he like? How did he adjust back to civilian life?
• Betsy says that Lou was supposed to marry her (older) sister, and yet we never get any other info about the sister. And in the scene where Betsy goes into Hank's office, underneath the word 'love' is the photo of Lou and Betsy. So, how does Hank feel about this? Did he secretly always think that Lou would be better off with Betsy? Or was he surprised to see Lou and Betsy started going out after he got home from the war?
• Their daily life in the office: what is it like? What sort of cases they deal with normally?

Stoker (2013): Evelyn Stoker, India Stoker

Fandom-specific DNW: Please don't focus on India/Charlie and/or Evelyn/Charlie. Brief mention is fine.

First of all, this movie is gorgeous: the cinematography, the costumes, the set design. And the soundtrack, too!

Second, the mother-daughter relationship has always been my favourite. It's fascinating to watch the contrast between their outward/physical femininity and their internal/mental deviation from the norms.

So much has been written about India that I don't think I can really add anything substantial. I mean, what's not to love?

As for Evelyn, what's really interesting about her is how ordinary she is: a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage, strained relationship with her child, and no meaningful outside relationship/engagement. Her situation is one that most married women probably fear (and some do experience) during their lives. And, well, I have a soft spot for this kind of stories.

You can write them anywhere from gen to femslash! I don't mind incest in this fandom (it's canon after all). The more dark and twisted, the better! If you manage to get hold of the script, feel free to incorporate elements from that.

I opt-in for Crueltide for this fandom.

Prompts:

• Alternate ending, where India takes Evelyn with her and they end up on the run together. Evelyn tries to escape, India lets her think she gets away briefly, and just when Evelyn thinks she's finally safe, India shows up and teaches her a lesson/punishes her for running away. I'd like to see this scenario plays out, and what kind of lesson/punishment India gives her.
• Alternatively, Evelyn experiences sanity slippage and becomes a willing accomplice. How does this play out? Does she play the bait for their victims? (FYI, I'm writing a short fic based on this prompt, but please don't let that stop you if this prompt inspires you! I'd love to see other takes on this.)
• Outsider's perspective on their relationship, whether during canon or during the alternate ending scenarios above
• Before she's a bitter, drunk widow, Evelyn was somebody with her own identity. Who was she? We get some hints about her past from her monologue near the ending: the sense of personal failure, the desire for her daughter to get it right. What was Evelyn's failure? What went wrong in her life?
• It's obvious that Evelyn and Richard's marriage is unhappy, and yet Evelyn stays. Why? Some twisted determination to prove something?
• If you go the femslash route: the moment where they finally have sex for the first time. Who initiates? Is it consensual? Dubcon? Or even noncon? Maybe for once Evelyn has the upper hand, since she's more experienced?
• Dark fairy tale AU, whether based on an existing story, or your own take.

Watchmen (2009): Dan Dreiberg, Adrian Veidt

Fandom-specific DNW: Dan/Rorschach or Comedian/Ozy.

If you want to incorporate details from the graphic novel, feel free to do so! But please keep the movie's characterisation for the requested characters.

I prefer slash for these two, but pre-slash or gen are welcome too! I also prefer bittersweet or ambivalent ending, or as happy as possible/realistic given the bleak nature of the canon. Another preference is for Dan not to condone Adrian's action, even if they do end up together. But of course, what makes the story work override these preferences. I don't have any preferences regarding Dan's fanonical Jewishness; it's up to you.

Prompts:

• Casefic during their time as masks!
• Adrian's plan didn't work out: world peace lasts for a couple of years (at most) before the world returns to its usual state of trying to kill each other. How do they face the fact that all those people Adrian murdered died in vain?
• Early 20th century archaeology AU with archaeologist Adrian. Is Dan the wealthy donor sponsoring his dig? Or maybe he's the engineer working on a nearby railroad/dam/whatever project? (Why yes, I've been rereading Lawrence)
• Historical AU. I'm partial to Ancient Greece/Rome, Victorian, or early 20th century (up to the Interwar period) but really any period would be welcome! (Per DNW, please don't change requested characters' canon gender/race/ethnicity)
• A/B/O AU, disenfranchised omega. Alpha!Dan, Omega!Adrian. How would this affect them? Is Adrian the only omega mask? Is that why the Comedian is so hostile to him? Would being an alpha bring any change to Dan's personality, given that canonically he's pretty privileged already? What I'm interested to see is how being stripped off of his canonical privilege would affect Adrian. It's Adrian, so I have no doubt he'd gain his canonical success and status eventually, but what struggles or compromises (lol) he'd have to make? Maybe he has to hide his omega status (or not? It's hard to see someone so defiant like Adrian doing so), etc. Also, this would be the exception for the DNW:Issue fic stated above. (I know A/B/O AUs are tricky, but I'm not much interested in the biological/physical aspects of it, more on the psychological side. I'd also prefer for male omega not to be overly feminised.)

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