meridian_rose

Dear Yuletide Author

Thank you for signing up for Yuletide! I hope you find this letter useful. I tend to ramble because I think plenty of choice is better than one really specific thing or an "oh, anything will be fine" – that's my opinion as an author, anyway.

General Likes: Genres include hurt/comfort, drama, gen, romance, crack/humour, character study, action/adventure, canon au's. Being shown another side to a character. Rare ships, OT3s. Fairy tales and mythological narratives and motifs. Regency AUs.
Kinks: kinks include hair kink, tattoos/scars, bathing/showering, desk sex, non-sexual bed sharing.
Please don't consider this a laundry list of must-do's or the only things I like, I'm just trying to think of particular themes I enjoy.

What I'd rather you didn't include: babyfic/preg/mpreg/fpreg (but de-aged fic, pre-canon, canon children are fine); animal abuse; rape, schmoop (I know, it's a fine line between fluff and schmoop but I think there is one); rape; overt misogyny or homophobia not being called out, pwp.

Other stuff: I absolutely appreciate well-written porn/erotica - sensual sex scenes are the best - but I dislike portrayals of penetrative sex as the be-all and and-all of a relationship. Non-sexual intimacy is more romantic to me – things like heartfelt discussions, kissing, cuddling, displays of trust, emotional closeness. Bonus points for safe sex in modern canons/AUs (eg condom use).

Also, I have a lot of fandoms. If you want to write a crossover with one of those, that would be fine - my ongoing list is here.

As in previous years, I'll mention each fandom now with some rambling and some potential ideas that I think would be fun to see explored.

Fandoms requested:

Da Vinci's Demons – Girolamo Riario

I don't yet know what S3 has in store for Riario and to be honest I don't care. Canon be damned, just give me more Riario being complex and interesting, veering from torturer to tortured and generally being the necessary counterpoint to da Vinci's reckless genius.
Da Vinci: I didn't pick da Vinci as well as Riaro to give more scope but if you want to write Leario I will love you for it! Frenemies/Foe Yay, bromance, is fine too. If you're a fan of their interactions you probably have an idea you'd like to explore.
Vanessa: I've said before that she and Riario have more in common than first appears. They were both people of deep faith before they met Leo, a cloistered nun and a self-righteous Papal enforcer, and Leo has challenged that. His impact on their lives has changed them irrevocably. I think they both care about Leo in their own ways, and they’re both frustrated (or should be) with how he walks in and out their lives on a whim, seemingly without caring what happens to them when he’s not there. I’d love to see them discuss faith, and/or Leo, and how frustrating Leo can be – and how it’s impossible for them not to care about him anyway. If you can give me some Riario/Vanessa interaction that would be amazing.
Nico: I'm curious about Riario and Nico's survival and shipwreck before Leonardo shows up in S2, and how their relationship has changed from Riario torturing Nico until Nico refuses to leave him behind after the ill-fated escape from the Vault.
Lucrezia: Their canon interactions can be problematic but AU-wise I ship them, so that's a thing for me. Canon based interactions where they are working together rather than Riario attacking her would be okay too.
Other random ideas
Canon AUs – what if Riario had stayed with Leonardo when they returned to Italy late in season 2, rather than going back to Rome? Riario said if they didn't find the Book of Leaves he'd kill da Vinci himself – if he hadn't been injured, how might things have gone on the beach after their escape from the Vault of Heaven? What if Nico or someone else other than the Enemies of Man had saved Riario from the river? (I've read the start of one WIP for that and there are so many possibilities)
Misc AUs – role switch; Count Leonardo is the Pope's bastard and Riario the heretical scholar. Riario meets Leonardo years before canon and they become close. Modern Day AU, Fantasy AU, Fairy Tale AU. Go wild.
Crossovers welcome, especially if, say, Leonardo accidentally discovers/invents time travel or how to step into works of art, dragging a long suffering Riario with him/sending Riario into another world he has to navigate.

Dark Matter – Three | Marcus Boone

If I hadn't come to this show with fond memories of Lemke as Marcus Grisham I'd still have fallen somewhat for Three because he hits my space cowboy trope. Han Solo, Mal Reynolds, Peter Quill, and Marcus Boone are all the gritty antiheroes with a conscience and more heart than they like to believe, so that's my angle here. I'll give some overall themes/ideas I'd be especially excited by.
Pre-canon: Episode 7 hit one of my kinks hard. I can't find an exact TV Tropes page for it, but it's partly I Found You Like This, partly Florence Nightingale Effect; lone female in hostile climate takes in wounded warrior. The Marcus/Sarah meeting and eventual romance is only outlined in the episode and I'd love to see something fleshing it out.
Within Canon:
One [Derrick]: There's a lot of slash fic for them and I'm okay reading slash but for Yuletide I'd prefer it that wasn't the main focus of the fic. I am very interested in their interactions in the wake of the revelation that Marcus was a suspect in the murder of Derrick's wife, and there's plenty to explore there.
Given that no-one on the crew is as Big, Bad, or Evil as they first believe themselves to be, I doubt that's the truth. If you want to go pre-canon there, or potential s2 and explore whatever you think was going on with the assassination, I'd love to read it.
Five: She's "the kid" but he worries about her too. Maybe they get sent on an undercover mission together (maybe as bodyguard/princess, father/daughter) and have to work together. Or they get separated from the rest of the crew in a hostile environment and it will take all of both their skills to survive.
Two: Sure, I ship them, and in fact One/Two/Three as an OT3 works fine too if you want to explore some sort of romance there. Three got freaked out when he realised Two was more than human, though he's proven he cares for her, giving up the passcode to try and save her. How does he get past that initial reaction?
Android: He claims to hate her but he is also insistent that she's their Android and no-one else gets to hurt or insult her. If you want to play with that, go ahead.
In fact, exploring how Three sees his crew generally is something I'd enjoy.
S2: What's Three's plan for escape after the s1 finale? Or, after their inevitable escape, what jobs do they go on next and does Three want to stick around?
I hope there's something in that rambling that catches your eye :)

Yonderland – Negatus, Rita, Geoff

There's very little fandom for Yonderland so I'm glad to see it nominated this year.
Debbie: I didn't pick Debbie because I didn't want to limit the potential matches since I was including some of the demons (and Debbie fic seems to be mostly Debbie & Elf-centric). But you should feel free to include Debbie! If you want it to get shippy with Negatus, go for it, but gen interaction is more than welcome. I'm partial to the enemies working together trope here, including hurt/comfort and survival techniques (eg cuddling for warmth).
Maybe Negatus is stuck in our world and Debbie tries to help him fit in until she can send him home (I'm sure the demons are doing something productive back in Yonderland, unless they're stuck here too…)
Fun fact, like Debbie, I live in the West Midlands – of course I don't expect anyone to know enough to include local colour but if you do, I will get the references :)
The trio: Rita, Geoff, (and poor Neil who I don't pay as much attention to as the others!) remind me very much of the Trick or Treaters from Nightmare Before Christmas:

Which makes me wonder if Yonderland has a festival similar to Halloween, or what happens if Debbie accidentally introduces the idea to them. Plenty of silliness for the demons to get into while Negatus plans to use the festival for his own ends. Or their version of Christmas, or a festival of your own invention.
Maybe something about how Negatus does care about the demons really? But anything with Negatus trying (and failing) in his ambitions and the demons doing their thing, would be great. I think AUs could work here and de-aged is a trope that could work well, but then the show is so deliberately silly almost anything goes. I'm sure you have an idea you'd like to explore if you signed up for Yonderland, so go for it :D