Yuletide 2016
Sep. 17th, 2016 10:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
carolinecraneHello! A very happy Yuletide season to you. This is my twelfth Yuletide, which kind of blows my mind every time I think about it, but at this point it wouldn’t feel like the holidays without it. So to say I’m excited for another year is definitely an understatement. That’s eleven years of lovely gifts, which is honestly why I keep coming back for more. I’m greedy! But also I just love tiny fandoms, so this is truly my favorite fannish activity of the year.
Thank you very much in advance for writing for me! I hope you have a lot of fun and don't stress at all, because I am honestly pretty easy to please. If you’re into stalking, I sort of accidentally took a hiatus from pretty much all social media a few months back so you won’t find much that’s recent, but my username is carolinecrane on tumblr, LJ, DW, and AO3.
Things I enjoy in fic:
Generally speaking I’m a big fan of romance. Most of my fannish likes tend to be pairing-based, but I understand if that’s not your thing. Hopefully something I’ve mentioned here will help give you a direction if you need it, but if you’d rather do your own thing and surprise me, go for it.
I’m a big fan of fluff, so if that’s your jam, you are in the right place. I will read ALL the fluff without a hint of shame. Anything goes, pretty much, G rating all the way up to NC17. I will read kidfic and curtain fic, kinky porn and disgustingly romantic vanilla porn. AUs of all varieties, get-together or established relationship, I am down. If that sounds too much like ‘I love anything!’, I promise to give specific prompts below to make it a little easier. But honestly, I love pretty much anything.
Tropes I really love: fake/pretend relationship, accidental baby acquisition, bedsharing, Canadian shack, Groundhog Day, soulbonding, wing fic, bodyswap, h/c, sex pollen. I’m fine with dubcon, and noncon doesn’t bother me as long as it’s not between a requested pairing.
My bulletproof dynamic is probably codependency. I don’t even care how unhealthy it is, I am a total sucker for characters who cannot live without each other and are embarrassing and desperate about it, especially when it manifests itself in possessive behavior. This is probably why I love soulmate AUs so much.
Things I have learned about myself this year: I am way more into A/B/O than I realized. The reason I mention it is only because it has been on my ‘no thanks’ list in past letters, and I don’t want to cause confusion in case that’s where your imagination takes you, and you worry I won’t enjoy it. I will, promise!
Kinks I Enjoy:
I am into marking (including bruising, watersports, and biting), desperation, size kink, come inflation, A/B/O, scar worship, body worship, overstimulation, possessiveness, double penetration, sex toys/object insertion, fisting, knotting, enemas, clothed/semi-clothed sex, sleepy sex/somnophilia, rimming, fingering, tattoos/scarification, semi-public sex, rough sex, h/c, romantic/funny/awkward sex, old married couple sex.
This is far from an exhaustive list, so if there’s something you want to throw in there, go for it. Maybe I’ll discover a new favorite.
Dislikes:
My only hard DNWs are incest, animal harm, genderswap and BDSM as a lifestyle. Light bondage or a little painplay is fine, but I'm not really into the power dynamics of BDSM. I don’t mind angst, but at Yuletide season I crave happy endings, so if that’s possible, I would love you all the more. Other than that I’m pretty easy.
If you want to look through past years’ letters, my DW tag is here and my LJ tag is here. The most recent letters are on DW and older stuff is on LJ.
Ghost Hunters RPF
Characters: Dave Tango, Steve Gonsalves
There is so little Ghost Hunters RPF in existence that the world is literally your oyster here. I am into this pairing for a lot of reasons, the main one being that they’re such *boys*. Their dumb dares while they’re on a case, Steve’s embarrassing earnestness and sense of importance, Tango’s stupid hats...I love it all. I ship it, and would love it if you also shipped it. Whether you feel like writing about a case or what they do in their off time or even a total AU, I’ll be happy to read it.
I know nothing about their real personal lives and I don’t want to. Feel free to ignore all of that completely.
Of the three Steve/Tango fics on AO3, two of them were written by me and one was a gift for me in a past Yuletide. So to say that I’ll be delighted with whatever is really not an understatement. I started watching this show with my parents, mainly because I grew up in Rhode Island so it was a little piece of home, hearing Grant and Jason’s accents every week. But even more importantly, my mom is from Jersey and my dad is from Massachusetts, just like Steve and Tango, and my parents have been married for over 40 years, so clearly that means Steve/Tango are meant to be. I mean it’s just basic math.
I take literally nothing about this fandom seriously, in case you couldn’t tell. It’s impossible to take either of these two idiots seriously when Steve’s afraid of literally everything (except ghosts!) and Tango keeps taking Steve’s dumb bets and following him around like the world’s most embarrassing puppy. They deserve each other, honestly.
That said, I do enjoy the investigations and the ghosts and I find their earnestness about ghost hunting so charming. I like most of the other cast members as well (Kris! Joe Chin! ♥) so if you feel like including someone(s) else from the show, please feel free.
-- I have this headcanon that Steve hates Ghost Adventures. I like to imagine him and Tango hatewatching in their boxers and Steve yelling at the TV about what an idiot Zak is. Because Zak is an idiot, even though Steve doesn’t really have any stones to throw. Obviously I am not demanding a crossover here, but if you happen to know both shows and like the idea as much as I do, I promise to lavish you with all the love. (I will be doing that anyway, no worries.)
-- The show’s on its final season, which means their lives are going to be changing in a pretty big way here soon. How’s that going to affect their relationship/friendship/whatevership? Is there going to be pining? Will it all be horribly angsty and dumb? I can only hope.
-- Steve and Tango used to do the con circuit pretty regularly. (I don’t know if they still do, but probably.) I sat through their panel at DragonCon once and they were so EARNEST, it was seriously embarrassing. If you felt like writing about them being idiots together at a con, that might be hilarious. Do they fanboy over anyone? Do they take themselves too seriously and make the other, more jaded panelists hate them? Does Tango have to kill spiders in the hotel shower so Steve will stop screaming? (Do they run into the cast of Ghost Adventures? Is Steve offended that they're forced to be in the same room?)
-- There are tons of AU possibilities, if you are an AU kind of person. A haunted house AU might be fun. Or maybe something mundane like a college AU, in which Steve and Tango are assigned to the same dorm room and Tango slowly discovers all of Steve’s weird phobias. Haunted dorm room!
-- Possessed by an amorous ghost! Imagine the possibilities.
-- If you’ve ever wanted an excuse to write really ridiculous porn, your time has come, my friend. There’s something so charming about silly, laughter-filled, awkward sex, and I firmly believe that’s what it would be like for these two, at least some of the time. Maybe one of them dares the other to try out a new kink and it goes hilariously wrong. Or maybe it goes hilariously right in some unexpected way. Of course, I can also imagine really sweet, romantic sex, or needy, desperate sex, so you know. Whatever moves you.
-- I have a thing for tattoos, and Steve’s got a lot of them. Maybe Tango’s got a thing for tattoos as well.
Kitchen Confidential
Characters: Any (Seth, Jim, Teddy, Ramon, Jack, Steven, Tanya, Mimi)
Things I would love to see in this fandom: Drunken orgies. All the kinky sex. Food-related shenanigans (naked or otherwise). Pre-canon explorations of how Jack/Steven/Teddy/Seth (or any combination thereof) became friends/bros/colleagues/whatever. Awkward hookups. Magic realism. Jim/Ramon (ship of my heart!) There’s a lot more in my letter, but basically anything goes.
This show. THIS SHOW. It was one of FOX’s short-lived original sitcoms, aired during the era when FOX killed new shows on purpose with alarming regularity, so only four episodes were ever aired, I think. But there were thirteen total, and I discovered recently that they’re all available to watch for free on tv.com. Or you can buy the DVDs for like ten dollars from Amazon, if you’re the kind of person, like myself, who enjoys terrible television.
The series revolves around the kitchen staff of a trendy NYC restaurant called Nolita. Bradley Cooper headed the cast as Jack Bourdain, the fictional version of Anthony Bourdain. The cast had pretty amazing chemistry, and the pairings are pretty much endless. Normally I am hopelessly serially monogamous, so I don’t generally enjoy poly relationships, but with this fandom pretty much all bets are off. It’s the only fandom I’ve ever written fisting orgy porn for, if that tells you anything.
So if you’re in the mood to write crazy, drunken, kinky porn, you are in the right place. But only if you want to! If everyone keeps their clothes on, that’s okay too. I am down with whatever characters you want to write, in whatever combinations. I’ll confess to a particular fondness for Jim/Ramon, and I am fond of everything John Cho chooses to be, including Teddy Wong, but truly, I’m down for whatever. If you want some specific ideas, however, I’ve got a few:
-- Jack/Steven/Teddy/Seth before Nolita. How did they all meet? Tell me about previous kitchens, or previous hookups. Was there ever a booze-fueled Vegas weekend that ended in getting kicked out of a hotel and not being able to look each other in the eye for days? I would take the booze-fueled shenanigans (naked or otherwise) or the awkward road trip to get back home. I am kind of into the idea of road trip fic for these idiots, I don’t know why. And if you want to throw Jim (or anyone else) in there, for initiation purposes, maybe? I would not complain, is what I'm saying.
-- Teddy/Seth pining. I’m into it, particularly if Seth is doing the pining. Do they casually hook up after long nights in the kitchen? Does Seth wish it was more than casual? Is Teddy just using Seth so he has someplace to crash that’s not populated by all his cousins taking up every inch of space? Or does Teddy sort of reluctantly love Seth too, even if he doesn’t really want to admit it? How did they meet? Were they culinary school rivals? Did they hate each other at first, or hit it off right away? So many questions.
-- Jim/Ramon: I mean, the possessiveness is canon, and I’m really into Ramon being kind of obsessed with Jim? I guess I just want to see sweet, naive, innocent Jim broken. I’m a terrible person. But the heart wants what it wants, and this heart wants Jim besmirched and losing his innocence in service of Ramon. This is my favorite pairing in this fandom, and I can buy it as either dubconny and kind of dark, or weirdly romantic and secretly sweet.
-- Jim/Seth/Tanya: I like the idea of this threesome mainly because Tanya’s so sweet, Jim’s nervous and innocent, and Seth’s not above taking what he can get, but the only one who wouldn’t be embarrassed about it is Tanya. That dynamic appeals to me for reasons I can’t really explain. Late night drinking games in the kitchen that devolve into porn, maybe, or strip poker featuring heavy amounts of blushing, or even just dessert-related food porn in the kitchen after hours. I wouldn’t complain about Seth/Tanya with a side of Jim accidental voyeurism, either.
-- I think it's pretty clear the show was heading in an eventual Jack/Mimi direction, but I never really cared for that particular train wreck. Though it would be a *hilarious* train wreck, which actually might be kind of fun. I did really love Mimi and Tanya's relationship, if you wanted to explore it. There's a lot of testosterone in that kitchen, maybe they need a little break? With makeouts? Or maybe Mimi gets an eyeful of Tanya/anyone in the kitchen and has Opinions.
-- Top Chef AU! It would be hilarious and a complete disaster, let’s face it.
-- Crazy sex pollen shenanigans! Maybe Steven finds a less-than-reputable (read: supernatural) source for the restaurant’s meat and everyone gets dosed. Or only some people get dosed.
-- Honestly any supernatural shenanigans you want to throw into the mundane setting would be fun. If there are leprechauns or fae or a coven in New York selling organic kale or humanely raised poultry, Steven’s going to find them.
-- Really, any hijinks, magical or otherwise, food-related or not, would be welcome.
So basically what I’m saying here is that Jim/anyone is my jam, and also anyone/anyone, or everyone/everyone, or no pairing at all. Feel free to ignore the characters nominated and write about whoever. I mean that 100%.
Santa Claus: The Movie
Characters: Any (Corny, Joe, Anya Claus, Santa Claus)
This is the cheesy 80s Christmas movie of my heart and I love literally everything about the universe, including the horrible class disparities and evil John Lithgow. I would welcome any exploration about the universe at all, particularly Joe and Corny's adventures at the North Pole post-canon. I want to hear all about their idyllic childhood with Santa and Mrs. Claus!
If you want to tell the story through the eyes of Santa or Anya, that would be a-okay with me too. I'm so interested in their thoughts and feelings on instant parenthood, and what it's like to have kids underfoot when they've got the responsibility of all of Christmas on their shoulders.
I would love any kind of worldbuilding, and if you're down to ship Joe and Corny, so am I.
I didn’t request this fandom last year, but then I was sad, so here we are again. This is the fourth time I’ve nominated it, I think. Hope springs eternal! It’s such a strange little movie and let’s be real, it hasn’t aged all that well, but it was one of my childhood favorites, and I still really love it.
I love this movie so much that I would basically be happy with any exploration or continuation of canon. If you feel like aging up Corny and Joe and writing their romance, I would love you forever. They canonically have crushes on each other, so it’s not even a stretch. If you’d rather tell the story of their year at the North Pole (and, I hope, subsequent adoption by Santa and Mrs. Claus) then I would love that too. Or maybe you’d rather explore what life was like for Joe or Corny pre-canon. Neither of their lives had much joy, and even though they got a happy ending, there was plenty of suffering before they got there. It would be interesting to explore that.
-- Obviously, given that it’s a Christmas film, if you want to write a holiday-themed fic I will roll around with glee and probably spend the entire day reading and re-reading and then tell all my friends to read it too. But I will do all that even if you set your story in, say, March.
-- There are plenty of dark themes in this film, which I suppose is typical, considering the time period. The evil uncle, the exploding candy, the badly made toys, the homeless kid, orphans, problematic class distinctions, and, as my mother pointed out to me during a recent rewatch, the fact that Anya and Claus actually froze to death in order to become Santa and Mrs. Claus. I suppose as a kid that fact didn't register, and as an adult I chose not to see it until my mother pointed it out.Thanks for ruining Christmas, Mom! My point is that there's plenty of dark stuff going on, but the characters never give up hope, and that's what makes you root for them. So if you want to explore the darkness that would be cool, but if you want to keep the lightness of the film at the core of your story, that would be great too.
-- I didn't nominate John Lithgow's character, but if you’re interested in him, go for it. Dude floats off into space at the end of the movie. Where does he end up? If you want to drop him at the North Pole and (try to) redeem him through the magic of Christmas, go for it. Would he plot against goodness and light while pretending to be reformed? Would he become a super fab North Pole dandy like the Snow Miser? Is he still a villain? Would Santa see through him? Would Patch fall for it? Would Corny and Joe have to save the day?
-- This version of the North Pole is one of my favorites, but we don't really get to see much of it. So if you want to focus on the setting itself, that would be fantastic. I'd love to see Joe and Corny exploring their new home. Feeding the reindeer, toy building shenanigans, hanging out with the elves, Mrs. Claus’ feelings at finally being a mother, Santa and Anya adjusting to their afterlife in the North Pole...I will take any of it and love it as much as I do the original.
I really love this movie an embarrassing amount, so basically you can’t go wrong.
Veritas: The Quest
Characters: Nikko Zond, Calvin Banks
I’ve shipped Cal/Nikko since 2003. I’m very loyal to my tiny rarepairs, what can I say. The reason I love them so much is because I have a fondness for enemies to friends to lovers, and their dynamic is so well-suited to that. They’re both so jealous of each other for basically the same reason, and the fact that neither of them can see that makes me want to smack their heads together. I mean the Daddy Issues, come on.
They’re both kind of brats, but they manage to overcome that when it counts and work together, so if you felt like doing something with that dynamic I’d love it. I love the Found Family aspects of the show, too. Nikko's Two Dads, Calvin's jealousy of Nikko and Solomon's relationship, the weird sibling rivalry Nikko and Cal have going...I love all of it.
Veritas: The Quest was a 2003 series following the adventures of archaeologist Solomon Zond and his intrepid team of adventurers. That team included his teenage son Nikko, who was booted out of his most recent boarding school at the start of the series. There were 13 episodes in total, and you can watch them all on youtube if you have a weekend to kill and don’t love yourself enough.
The main draw for me in this fandom is Calvin/Nikko and their hateship. They’re not peers, exactly, but they’re at similar places in their lives regardless, and they have a lot of the same issues. That’s what causes them to butt heads so much, and of course it generates the crazy amounts of sexual tension between them. The fact that they’re so often thrown into life-threatening situations means that they can’t help resolving that tension eventually, right?
Confession: I requested this fandom last year and got an AMAZING treat that hit so many of my buttons. It’s a wonderful, trope-laden fic that I will read over and over. But I’m greedy and I still want more, so here we are again. No pressure! There’s so little fic in this fandom in general, and for this pairing specifically, that I will continue to want more for a good long time.
I would read a million soulmate AUs. I would read all the huddling for warmth, ALL the hurt/comfort, and all the pining and jealousy. Pining is my lifeblood, ask anyone.
-- If there was ever a fandom that screamed for a post apocalyptic AU, it is Veritas. You can throw in zombies if that’s what you’re into. Does the team stay together? Do they hole up in the city or head out to search for the key to saving the world? Is Dorna still on their heels, and if so, do they finally decide to work together or does Dorna just want to watch the world burn?
-- I am never going to ask anyone to solve the mystery of what the hell was going on with Nikko in the finale, but if you have some burning need to explore that storyline, I would love to hear your theories.
-- If you’re in the mood to write some porn, there’s the obvious hatesex vibe these two have going. They’re also jealous of each other almost constantly, and given the thin line between love and hate, I think when the dam did break there would probably be a lot of rough, possessive claiming happening. Marking/bruising is a bonus, and scar worship is my jam. Considering how many times they’ve nearly died, they’ve likely both got plenty of marks to remind them.
-- If you prefer a gentler approach, the hurt/comfort is actually canon in this fandom. Somebody nearly dies in almost every episode, after all, so there are plenty of emotional scars to go along with the physical ones. I am into both physical and emotional h/c, so if you feel like exploring that, I am here for it.
-- Ancient artifacts made them do it! Dubcon and its aftermath is fine and also welcome, or feel free to ignore all the angst and use it as a vehicle to make them admit their ~feelings.
-- I have already gotten soulmates fic for this fandom and I loved it so, SO much, so I feel a little bad about listing it again, but man, I love soulmates so much. I’d read a million different takes on it, is what I’m saying, and love every single one. (You don’t understand; I have written wingfic soulbonding. I will read ALL the soulbonding.)
-- If you really want to write something wacky (or angsty, or magical) accidental baby acquisition might be super fun. There are so many crazy magical artifacts in this canon that it could totally happen, and we already know Nikko’s great with kids.
It’s hard for me to even give decent prompts for this fandom, because honestly when I think about what I’d like to see in a Veritas fic, I think ‘All The Things’ every time. There just needs to be more and more and more, because I’m greedy and unashamed. So honestly, I will take pretty much whatever you come up with in this fandom too, as long as Calvin and Nikko are in there somewhere sniping at each other. Or, you know, making out. I’m not that picky.
Thank you very much in advance for writing for me! I hope you have a lot of fun and don't stress at all, because I am honestly pretty easy to please. If you’re into stalking, I sort of accidentally took a hiatus from pretty much all social media a few months back so you won’t find much that’s recent, but my username is carolinecrane on tumblr, LJ, DW, and AO3.
Things I enjoy in fic:
Generally speaking I’m a big fan of romance. Most of my fannish likes tend to be pairing-based, but I understand if that’s not your thing. Hopefully something I’ve mentioned here will help give you a direction if you need it, but if you’d rather do your own thing and surprise me, go for it.
I’m a big fan of fluff, so if that’s your jam, you are in the right place. I will read ALL the fluff without a hint of shame. Anything goes, pretty much, G rating all the way up to NC17. I will read kidfic and curtain fic, kinky porn and disgustingly romantic vanilla porn. AUs of all varieties, get-together or established relationship, I am down. If that sounds too much like ‘I love anything!’, I promise to give specific prompts below to make it a little easier. But honestly, I love pretty much anything.
Tropes I really love: fake/pretend relationship, accidental baby acquisition, bedsharing, Canadian shack, Groundhog Day, soulbonding, wing fic, bodyswap, h/c, sex pollen. I’m fine with dubcon, and noncon doesn’t bother me as long as it’s not between a requested pairing.
My bulletproof dynamic is probably codependency. I don’t even care how unhealthy it is, I am a total sucker for characters who cannot live without each other and are embarrassing and desperate about it, especially when it manifests itself in possessive behavior. This is probably why I love soulmate AUs so much.
Things I have learned about myself this year: I am way more into A/B/O than I realized. The reason I mention it is only because it has been on my ‘no thanks’ list in past letters, and I don’t want to cause confusion in case that’s where your imagination takes you, and you worry I won’t enjoy it. I will, promise!
Kinks I Enjoy:
I am into marking (including bruising, watersports, and biting), desperation, size kink, come inflation, A/B/O, scar worship, body worship, overstimulation, possessiveness, double penetration, sex toys/object insertion, fisting, knotting, enemas, clothed/semi-clothed sex, sleepy sex/somnophilia, rimming, fingering, tattoos/scarification, semi-public sex, rough sex, h/c, romantic/funny/awkward sex, old married couple sex.
This is far from an exhaustive list, so if there’s something you want to throw in there, go for it. Maybe I’ll discover a new favorite.
Dislikes:
My only hard DNWs are incest, animal harm, genderswap and BDSM as a lifestyle. Light bondage or a little painplay is fine, but I'm not really into the power dynamics of BDSM. I don’t mind angst, but at Yuletide season I crave happy endings, so if that’s possible, I would love you all the more. Other than that I’m pretty easy.
If you want to look through past years’ letters, my DW tag is here and my LJ tag is here. The most recent letters are on DW and older stuff is on LJ.
Ghost Hunters RPF
Characters: Dave Tango, Steve Gonsalves
There is so little Ghost Hunters RPF in existence that the world is literally your oyster here. I am into this pairing for a lot of reasons, the main one being that they’re such *boys*. Their dumb dares while they’re on a case, Steve’s embarrassing earnestness and sense of importance, Tango’s stupid hats...I love it all. I ship it, and would love it if you also shipped it. Whether you feel like writing about a case or what they do in their off time or even a total AU, I’ll be happy to read it.
I know nothing about their real personal lives and I don’t want to. Feel free to ignore all of that completely.
Of the three Steve/Tango fics on AO3, two of them were written by me and one was a gift for me in a past Yuletide. So to say that I’ll be delighted with whatever is really not an understatement. I started watching this show with my parents, mainly because I grew up in Rhode Island so it was a little piece of home, hearing Grant and Jason’s accents every week. But even more importantly, my mom is from Jersey and my dad is from Massachusetts, just like Steve and Tango, and my parents have been married for over 40 years, so clearly that means Steve/Tango are meant to be. I mean it’s just basic math.
I take literally nothing about this fandom seriously, in case you couldn’t tell. It’s impossible to take either of these two idiots seriously when Steve’s afraid of literally everything (except ghosts!) and Tango keeps taking Steve’s dumb bets and following him around like the world’s most embarrassing puppy. They deserve each other, honestly.
That said, I do enjoy the investigations and the ghosts and I find their earnestness about ghost hunting so charming. I like most of the other cast members as well (Kris! Joe Chin! ♥) so if you feel like including someone(s) else from the show, please feel free.
-- I have this headcanon that Steve hates Ghost Adventures. I like to imagine him and Tango hatewatching in their boxers and Steve yelling at the TV about what an idiot Zak is. Because Zak is an idiot, even though Steve doesn’t really have any stones to throw. Obviously I am not demanding a crossover here, but if you happen to know both shows and like the idea as much as I do, I promise to lavish you with all the love. (I will be doing that anyway, no worries.)
-- The show’s on its final season, which means their lives are going to be changing in a pretty big way here soon. How’s that going to affect their relationship/friendship/whatevership? Is there going to be pining? Will it all be horribly angsty and dumb? I can only hope.
-- Steve and Tango used to do the con circuit pretty regularly. (I don’t know if they still do, but probably.) I sat through their panel at DragonCon once and they were so EARNEST, it was seriously embarrassing. If you felt like writing about them being idiots together at a con, that might be hilarious. Do they fanboy over anyone? Do they take themselves too seriously and make the other, more jaded panelists hate them? Does Tango have to kill spiders in the hotel shower so Steve will stop screaming? (Do they run into the cast of Ghost Adventures? Is Steve offended that they're forced to be in the same room?)
-- There are tons of AU possibilities, if you are an AU kind of person. A haunted house AU might be fun. Or maybe something mundane like a college AU, in which Steve and Tango are assigned to the same dorm room and Tango slowly discovers all of Steve’s weird phobias. Haunted dorm room!
-- Possessed by an amorous ghost! Imagine the possibilities.
-- If you’ve ever wanted an excuse to write really ridiculous porn, your time has come, my friend. There’s something so charming about silly, laughter-filled, awkward sex, and I firmly believe that’s what it would be like for these two, at least some of the time. Maybe one of them dares the other to try out a new kink and it goes hilariously wrong. Or maybe it goes hilariously right in some unexpected way. Of course, I can also imagine really sweet, romantic sex, or needy, desperate sex, so you know. Whatever moves you.
-- I have a thing for tattoos, and Steve’s got a lot of them. Maybe Tango’s got a thing for tattoos as well.
Kitchen Confidential
Characters: Any (Seth, Jim, Teddy, Ramon, Jack, Steven, Tanya, Mimi)
Things I would love to see in this fandom: Drunken orgies. All the kinky sex. Food-related shenanigans (naked or otherwise). Pre-canon explorations of how Jack/Steven/Teddy/Seth (or any combination thereof) became friends/bros/colleagues/whatever. Awkward hookups. Magic realism. Jim/Ramon (ship of my heart!) There’s a lot more in my letter, but basically anything goes.
This show. THIS SHOW. It was one of FOX’s short-lived original sitcoms, aired during the era when FOX killed new shows on purpose with alarming regularity, so only four episodes were ever aired, I think. But there were thirteen total, and I discovered recently that they’re all available to watch for free on tv.com. Or you can buy the DVDs for like ten dollars from Amazon, if you’re the kind of person, like myself, who enjoys terrible television.
The series revolves around the kitchen staff of a trendy NYC restaurant called Nolita. Bradley Cooper headed the cast as Jack Bourdain, the fictional version of Anthony Bourdain. The cast had pretty amazing chemistry, and the pairings are pretty much endless. Normally I am hopelessly serially monogamous, so I don’t generally enjoy poly relationships, but with this fandom pretty much all bets are off. It’s the only fandom I’ve ever written fisting orgy porn for, if that tells you anything.
So if you’re in the mood to write crazy, drunken, kinky porn, you are in the right place. But only if you want to! If everyone keeps their clothes on, that’s okay too. I am down with whatever characters you want to write, in whatever combinations. I’ll confess to a particular fondness for Jim/Ramon, and I am fond of everything John Cho chooses to be, including Teddy Wong, but truly, I’m down for whatever. If you want some specific ideas, however, I’ve got a few:
-- Jack/Steven/Teddy/Seth before Nolita. How did they all meet? Tell me about previous kitchens, or previous hookups. Was there ever a booze-fueled Vegas weekend that ended in getting kicked out of a hotel and not being able to look each other in the eye for days? I would take the booze-fueled shenanigans (naked or otherwise) or the awkward road trip to get back home. I am kind of into the idea of road trip fic for these idiots, I don’t know why. And if you want to throw Jim (or anyone else) in there, for initiation purposes, maybe? I would not complain, is what I'm saying.
-- Teddy/Seth pining. I’m into it, particularly if Seth is doing the pining. Do they casually hook up after long nights in the kitchen? Does Seth wish it was more than casual? Is Teddy just using Seth so he has someplace to crash that’s not populated by all his cousins taking up every inch of space? Or does Teddy sort of reluctantly love Seth too, even if he doesn’t really want to admit it? How did they meet? Were they culinary school rivals? Did they hate each other at first, or hit it off right away? So many questions.
-- Jim/Ramon: I mean, the possessiveness is canon, and I’m really into Ramon being kind of obsessed with Jim? I guess I just want to see sweet, naive, innocent Jim broken. I’m a terrible person. But the heart wants what it wants, and this heart wants Jim besmirched and losing his innocence in service of Ramon. This is my favorite pairing in this fandom, and I can buy it as either dubconny and kind of dark, or weirdly romantic and secretly sweet.
-- Jim/Seth/Tanya: I like the idea of this threesome mainly because Tanya’s so sweet, Jim’s nervous and innocent, and Seth’s not above taking what he can get, but the only one who wouldn’t be embarrassed about it is Tanya. That dynamic appeals to me for reasons I can’t really explain. Late night drinking games in the kitchen that devolve into porn, maybe, or strip poker featuring heavy amounts of blushing, or even just dessert-related food porn in the kitchen after hours. I wouldn’t complain about Seth/Tanya with a side of Jim accidental voyeurism, either.
-- I think it's pretty clear the show was heading in an eventual Jack/Mimi direction, but I never really cared for that particular train wreck. Though it would be a *hilarious* train wreck, which actually might be kind of fun. I did really love Mimi and Tanya's relationship, if you wanted to explore it. There's a lot of testosterone in that kitchen, maybe they need a little break? With makeouts? Or maybe Mimi gets an eyeful of Tanya/anyone in the kitchen and has Opinions.
-- Top Chef AU! It would be hilarious and a complete disaster, let’s face it.
-- Crazy sex pollen shenanigans! Maybe Steven finds a less-than-reputable (read: supernatural) source for the restaurant’s meat and everyone gets dosed. Or only some people get dosed.
-- Honestly any supernatural shenanigans you want to throw into the mundane setting would be fun. If there are leprechauns or fae or a coven in New York selling organic kale or humanely raised poultry, Steven’s going to find them.
-- Really, any hijinks, magical or otherwise, food-related or not, would be welcome.
So basically what I’m saying here is that Jim/anyone is my jam, and also anyone/anyone, or everyone/everyone, or no pairing at all. Feel free to ignore the characters nominated and write about whoever. I mean that 100%.
Santa Claus: The Movie
Characters: Any (Corny, Joe, Anya Claus, Santa Claus)
This is the cheesy 80s Christmas movie of my heart and I love literally everything about the universe, including the horrible class disparities and evil John Lithgow. I would welcome any exploration about the universe at all, particularly Joe and Corny's adventures at the North Pole post-canon. I want to hear all about their idyllic childhood with Santa and Mrs. Claus!
If you want to tell the story through the eyes of Santa or Anya, that would be a-okay with me too. I'm so interested in their thoughts and feelings on instant parenthood, and what it's like to have kids underfoot when they've got the responsibility of all of Christmas on their shoulders.
I would love any kind of worldbuilding, and if you're down to ship Joe and Corny, so am I.
I didn’t request this fandom last year, but then I was sad, so here we are again. This is the fourth time I’ve nominated it, I think. Hope springs eternal! It’s such a strange little movie and let’s be real, it hasn’t aged all that well, but it was one of my childhood favorites, and I still really love it.
I love this movie so much that I would basically be happy with any exploration or continuation of canon. If you feel like aging up Corny and Joe and writing their romance, I would love you forever. They canonically have crushes on each other, so it’s not even a stretch. If you’d rather tell the story of their year at the North Pole (and, I hope, subsequent adoption by Santa and Mrs. Claus) then I would love that too. Or maybe you’d rather explore what life was like for Joe or Corny pre-canon. Neither of their lives had much joy, and even though they got a happy ending, there was plenty of suffering before they got there. It would be interesting to explore that.
-- Obviously, given that it’s a Christmas film, if you want to write a holiday-themed fic I will roll around with glee and probably spend the entire day reading and re-reading and then tell all my friends to read it too. But I will do all that even if you set your story in, say, March.
-- There are plenty of dark themes in this film, which I suppose is typical, considering the time period. The evil uncle, the exploding candy, the badly made toys, the homeless kid, orphans, problematic class distinctions, and, as my mother pointed out to me during a recent rewatch, the fact that Anya and Claus actually froze to death in order to become Santa and Mrs. Claus. I suppose as a kid that fact didn't register, and as an adult I chose not to see it until my mother pointed it out.
-- I didn't nominate John Lithgow's character, but if you’re interested in him, go for it. Dude floats off into space at the end of the movie. Where does he end up? If you want to drop him at the North Pole and (try to) redeem him through the magic of Christmas, go for it. Would he plot against goodness and light while pretending to be reformed? Would he become a super fab North Pole dandy like the Snow Miser? Is he still a villain? Would Santa see through him? Would Patch fall for it? Would Corny and Joe have to save the day?
-- This version of the North Pole is one of my favorites, but we don't really get to see much of it. So if you want to focus on the setting itself, that would be fantastic. I'd love to see Joe and Corny exploring their new home. Feeding the reindeer, toy building shenanigans, hanging out with the elves, Mrs. Claus’ feelings at finally being a mother, Santa and Anya adjusting to their afterlife in the North Pole...I will take any of it and love it as much as I do the original.
I really love this movie an embarrassing amount, so basically you can’t go wrong.
Veritas: The Quest
Characters: Nikko Zond, Calvin Banks
I’ve shipped Cal/Nikko since 2003. I’m very loyal to my tiny rarepairs, what can I say. The reason I love them so much is because I have a fondness for enemies to friends to lovers, and their dynamic is so well-suited to that. They’re both so jealous of each other for basically the same reason, and the fact that neither of them can see that makes me want to smack their heads together. I mean the Daddy Issues, come on.
They’re both kind of brats, but they manage to overcome that when it counts and work together, so if you felt like doing something with that dynamic I’d love it. I love the Found Family aspects of the show, too. Nikko's Two Dads, Calvin's jealousy of Nikko and Solomon's relationship, the weird sibling rivalry Nikko and Cal have going...I love all of it.
Veritas: The Quest was a 2003 series following the adventures of archaeologist Solomon Zond and his intrepid team of adventurers. That team included his teenage son Nikko, who was booted out of his most recent boarding school at the start of the series. There were 13 episodes in total, and you can watch them all on youtube if you have a weekend to kill and don’t love yourself enough.
The main draw for me in this fandom is Calvin/Nikko and their hateship. They’re not peers, exactly, but they’re at similar places in their lives regardless, and they have a lot of the same issues. That’s what causes them to butt heads so much, and of course it generates the crazy amounts of sexual tension between them. The fact that they’re so often thrown into life-threatening situations means that they can’t help resolving that tension eventually, right?
Confession: I requested this fandom last year and got an AMAZING treat that hit so many of my buttons. It’s a wonderful, trope-laden fic that I will read over and over. But I’m greedy and I still want more, so here we are again. No pressure! There’s so little fic in this fandom in general, and for this pairing specifically, that I will continue to want more for a good long time.
I would read a million soulmate AUs. I would read all the huddling for warmth, ALL the hurt/comfort, and all the pining and jealousy. Pining is my lifeblood, ask anyone.
-- If there was ever a fandom that screamed for a post apocalyptic AU, it is Veritas. You can throw in zombies if that’s what you’re into. Does the team stay together? Do they hole up in the city or head out to search for the key to saving the world? Is Dorna still on their heels, and if so, do they finally decide to work together or does Dorna just want to watch the world burn?
-- I am never going to ask anyone to solve the mystery of what the hell was going on with Nikko in the finale, but if you have some burning need to explore that storyline, I would love to hear your theories.
-- If you’re in the mood to write some porn, there’s the obvious hatesex vibe these two have going. They’re also jealous of each other almost constantly, and given the thin line between love and hate, I think when the dam did break there would probably be a lot of rough, possessive claiming happening. Marking/bruising is a bonus, and scar worship is my jam. Considering how many times they’ve nearly died, they’ve likely both got plenty of marks to remind them.
-- If you prefer a gentler approach, the hurt/comfort is actually canon in this fandom. Somebody nearly dies in almost every episode, after all, so there are plenty of emotional scars to go along with the physical ones. I am into both physical and emotional h/c, so if you feel like exploring that, I am here for it.
-- Ancient artifacts made them do it! Dubcon and its aftermath is fine and also welcome, or feel free to ignore all the angst and use it as a vehicle to make them admit their ~feelings.
-- I have already gotten soulmates fic for this fandom and I loved it so, SO much, so I feel a little bad about listing it again, but man, I love soulmates so much. I’d read a million different takes on it, is what I’m saying, and love every single one. (You don’t understand; I have written wingfic soulbonding. I will read ALL the soulbonding.)
-- If you really want to write something wacky (or angsty, or magical) accidental baby acquisition might be super fun. There are so many crazy magical artifacts in this canon that it could totally happen, and we already know Nikko’s great with kids.
It’s hard for me to even give decent prompts for this fandom, because honestly when I think about what I’d like to see in a Veritas fic, I think ‘All The Things’ every time. There just needs to be more and more and more, because I’m greedy and unashamed. So honestly, I will take pretty much whatever you come up with in this fandom too, as long as Calvin and Nikko are in there somewhere sniping at each other. Or, you know, making out. I’m not that picky.
