nomadicwriter (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nomadicwriter) wrote2024-10-09 10:28 pm
nomadicwriter) wrote2024-10-09 10:28 pm
Entry tags:
Yuletide Letter 2024
Jumping back in to sign up for Yuletide again for the first time in quite a few years! Hi to any prospective writers, and please try not to stress too much about writing for me. I have pretty broad tastes when it comes to the kind of fic I read, and am really just looking for more about my favourite characters rather than having my heart set on any one particular type of story.
My AO3 name is Nomad (nomadicwriter), and treats are enabled and very much welcomed if you're feeling extra generous!
Some General Likes:
* Enemies or antagonists having to work together, or showing each other sympathy and kindness.
* Forced intimacy scenarios where characters who wouldn't voluntarily hang out are stuck together.
* People seeing new sides to or developing new feelings for someone they've known a long time.
* Late-blooming gay or bi characters who don't figure out their sexuality until well into adulthood.
* Casefic and canon-typical shenanigans, whether gen or with a ship added in to the mix.
* Banter, verbal fencing, and snappy dialogue; touches of humour in otherwise dark or angsty fics.
* Darker, more moody fics and sad endings too, as long as there are glimmers of hope.
In summary, I'm pretty flexible! I read widely in terms of genre and tone, enjoy both gen and ships of any gender combination, and am happy to read my favourite characters paired with a variety of different options rather than having fixed preferences for specific ships. Please consider the prompts below more an attempt to offer some general vibes and inspiration than anything you need to follow too closely.
Drop the Dead Donkey
Characters:
- Any (of: Damien Day, Dave Charnley, Helen Cooper, Joy Merryweather)
Request:
I had a hard time picking only four characters to nominate, so definitely feel free to include any of the rest of the cast! I enjoy both the Alex and the Helen years, and a "missing episode"-type story from either era would be great, whether based on real 90s news stories or fictitious events. Joy's arrival and how the team learned to fear her could be interesting, or the chaos around Alex's departure. Or even a pre-series story from 80s Globelink! We know Damien's been reporting for them since at least 1986 - how did he get hired at such a young age in the pre-Gus era? When did Dave come aboard, and did the two of them originally get on?
Alternatively, maybe something post-series; the obvious question is how Damien finally got home (did Lynn Yeats and her crew turn up two weeks later and steal his exclusive?) but also just where everyone went next and if their paths crossed again later on. Do the others get jobs at Dave and Henry's radio station, or find themselves reunited on the staff of some tiny local paper or hobby magazine? How long does Joy stick it out in the art world, or Helen get stuck selling sandwiches?
I'd prefer some humour here, even if pretty dark, but happy to see it mixed with more dramatic elements. Maybe something a bit action-adventure-y - teambuilding weekend turned survival story, Damien recruiting the others to help with a break-in, spies after information they think the Globelink team has - whether played more straight or as a complete farce. Or any of the team dealing with being injured or ill (I feel like both Joy and Helen would be bad at conceding weakness in different ways, Damien's canonically terrible at it, and Dave's life is enough of a disaster already).
I'm also always here for characters from mundane canons stumbling over something supernatural. Damien's canonical belief in Tarot and prophecies and willingness to do anything for a story seem like a ready recipe for occult hijinks, or maybe post-series some of the team could end up working for a magazine or podcast doing paranormal investigations.
Shipping:
- Gen shenanigans very welcome, but I can also buy this group of human disasters hooking up in almost any possible combination, whether among the nominated subset or the wider ensemble. Open to any ships you feel like writing here, and equally happy for it to end in canon-typical disaster or turn out surprisingly well. Not really looking for a PWP or a major focus on smut, but some sexual elements as part of a story where there's more than just that going on would be fine.
Do Not Want:
* Real-world politicians or media figures appearing as actual characters in the fic. (Canon-style topical gags and references to interactions the cast have had with them off-screen are fine.)
Additional Notes
Tie-In Canon:
- I haven't seen the recent 'Drop the Dead Donkey: The Reawakening' reunion play, but have sought out what spoilers I could find, so I'm equally happy if you want to incorporate elements from that into any post-canon fic or ignore it completely. (I have read the Drop the Dead Donkey 2000 tie-in novel, but given that's off in its own weird little alternate timeline that goes AU from both the show ending and reality, I don't know that it's particularly relevant to incorporate any of that into a fic for the TV canon anyway. But you can if you want to!)
Crossovers:
- I feel like the TV news concept lends itself well to potential crossovers if you want to go there. If you know my other requested fandom Yes Minister I would definitely enjoy a crossover between the two, or else some other politics and media-related fandoms I'm familiar with from this year's tagset are the House of Cards Trilogy (UK), The Thick of It and Sports Night.
Infamous Iron Man (Comics 2016)
Characters:
- Victor von Doom
Request:
I really enjoyed this series' take on a more 'heroic' Doom, and especially how despite having shifted focus from conquest to less villainous ways of trying to fix the world, he still fundamentally never quite grasps that other people's opinions matter and maybe he should ask what they actually want instead of just doing what he's decided they need. (I am very here for tales of Doom determinedly going around doing good deeds for people who would rather he did not.)
It would be great to see a story contrasting past and present Doom - maybe a Doom vs rogue Doombot clash, the arrival of an AU Doom from another reality, or some plot device that forces him to don his old-school armour - and how the people around him who've come to know the new Victor react to that. Have they begun to see him differently without realising it? I'm also interested in how Victor feels about the absence of his scars, and the ability to now be an anonymous face in the crowd again. Is it liberating not to have to be Doom all the time, or is it a constant struggle with his ego to deal with not being instantly recognised?
I'd be interested in outsider POVs of interactions with him from people who don't initially know who he is; perhaps even a five-things-style story of multiple people who encounter him and their differing opinions, or Ben's POV of the changes in him. I'm also kind of fascinated by the detail of Doom having kept a framed college-era photo of him and Ben and Reed together - what's the story behind that? I think a time travel adventure taking Doom and/or the others back to their college days could be interesting; would they see their past selves and interactions through new eyes, or still end up blinded by long-held convictions? What about a canon divergence where Tony Stark never returns or the rest of the Fantastic Four come back early and Doom stays on as Iron Man?
Shipping:
- Gen very welcome; if you want to ship Doom with Ben or Reed, I'm up for that too, though I'd prefer a first-time-type story that explores how they become involved rather than an established relationship where they're already together. Would also love to see more of whatever complicated thing is going on with Doom and Amara in this series. Not really looking for a PWP or a major focus on smut, but given potential themes around Doom being healed of his scars and able to go without armour for the first time in forever, I'd be open to sex scenes that get into exploring that angle.
Do Not Want:
* Mundane/no superpowers AUs where they're all just ordinary humans.
* Soulmate AUs where the pairing are destined to be together.
Additional Notes
Tie-In Canon:
- I'm pretty familiar with Doom's past appearances in other comics, so if you want to incorporate backstory elements from other series, go ahead. I particularly like his portrayal in Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four/FF run and the 2015 Secret Wars event that led into this series, plus the backstory from Books of Doom. I haven't kept up with any comics since about 2020, though, so I don't necessarily have much familiarity with stuff that happened after IIM ended.
Crossovers:
- I know the Fantastic Four comics pretty well and would be happy to see any additional F4/FF characters appear if you want to involve them. I haven't really followed what's been going on in the Marvel comics universe in recent years, but am generally familiar with the broad strokes of who's who and what they were up to prior to IIM, so if you wanted to do anything with different heroes and villains reacting to the new improved Doom I'd be up for that. Please no crossovers with any of the movie versions of the characters, though.
Yes Minister
Characters:
- Humphrey Appleby
Request:
Just requesting Humphrey here since he's my main favourite; I'd be equally happy to read fic of him interacting with any or all of the other nominated characters, or even any of the wider cast. Canon-typical political shenanigans are always welcome; I'm very fond of Hacker too, and particularly enjoy the rare moments where he and Humphrey team up against a common enemy. An occasion where Bernard gets to be the one to save Humphrey's bacon through the power of pedantry or knowing something he doesn't for a change could also be fun, or perhaps an exploration of their pre-canon dynamic before Hacker joined the department. And since we don't get to see that much of Humphrey interacting with Annie in canon, an incident where they have to work together to help her husband could also be pretty interesting.
I'd definitely prefer humour in this fandom, but feel free to mix it with other genres if you want! I'm always a sucker for characters from mundane canons encountering supernatural elements: maybe there are traditions around keeping the Whitehall ghosts happy that Hacker foolishly wants to upend, or the members of one of Humphrey's gentlemen's clubs are involved in some terribly embarrassing business with the occult. Or what about a spy adventure or murder mystery, whether semi-serious or more farcical? Maybe Arnold knew more about John Halsted's spying than Humphrey was aware, or Bernard gets mistaken for a courier, or a junior minister turns up mysteriously dead at a really inconvenient time.
I'd also enjoy seeing the characters out of their usual element in some way: stranded in a snowstorm after an event, stuck in an airport or motorway service station, by some terrible turn of events that Humphrey may never recover from ending up in a fast food restaurant or greasy spoon café, etc.
Shipping:
- Gen is always very much welcome, but if you want to write Humphrey/Jim, Humphrey/Bernard or explore Humphrey's relationship with the barely-glimpsed Lady Appleby, I'm here for that too. The canon Jim/Annie relationship is also fine to feature as much as you want.
Do Not Want:
* References to real-world politics other than pre-80s historical figures.
* Humiliation humour. (I find it really hard to watch episodes like The Key where Humphrey completely loses his dignity. Happy to see the tables turned and Hacker or whoever else score a win over him, but my embarrassment squick really can't take dignified, status-conscious characters being publicly humiliated.)
* Explicit sex scenes.
Additional Notes
Tie-In Canon:
- I've read the tie-in novelisations as well, and I know sometimes people in the fandom write fic that mimics their formatting; that's cool if you're inspired in that direction, but certainly don't feel obliged to stick to that formula. I'm not familiar with the stage plays beyond some vague osmosis, but feel free to incorporate elements from those as well if you like.
Crossovers:
- If you know both this fandom and Drop the Dead Donkey, a crossover with the Globelink News team trying to interview Hacker could be fun! Or if you want to cross it over with other political fandoms in the tagset, I'm also familiar with the House of Cards Trilogy (UK) and The Thick of It.
My AO3 name is Nomad (nomadicwriter), and treats are enabled and very much welcomed if you're feeling extra generous!
Some General Likes:
* Enemies or antagonists having to work together, or showing each other sympathy and kindness.
* Forced intimacy scenarios where characters who wouldn't voluntarily hang out are stuck together.
* People seeing new sides to or developing new feelings for someone they've known a long time.
* Late-blooming gay or bi characters who don't figure out their sexuality until well into adulthood.
* Casefic and canon-typical shenanigans, whether gen or with a ship added in to the mix.
* Banter, verbal fencing, and snappy dialogue; touches of humour in otherwise dark or angsty fics.
* Darker, more moody fics and sad endings too, as long as there are glimmers of hope.
In summary, I'm pretty flexible! I read widely in terms of genre and tone, enjoy both gen and ships of any gender combination, and am happy to read my favourite characters paired with a variety of different options rather than having fixed preferences for specific ships. Please consider the prompts below more an attempt to offer some general vibes and inspiration than anything you need to follow too closely.
Drop the Dead Donkey
Characters:
- Any (of: Damien Day, Dave Charnley, Helen Cooper, Joy Merryweather)
Request:
I had a hard time picking only four characters to nominate, so definitely feel free to include any of the rest of the cast! I enjoy both the Alex and the Helen years, and a "missing episode"-type story from either era would be great, whether based on real 90s news stories or fictitious events. Joy's arrival and how the team learned to fear her could be interesting, or the chaos around Alex's departure. Or even a pre-series story from 80s Globelink! We know Damien's been reporting for them since at least 1986 - how did he get hired at such a young age in the pre-Gus era? When did Dave come aboard, and did the two of them originally get on?
Alternatively, maybe something post-series; the obvious question is how Damien finally got home (did Lynn Yeats and her crew turn up two weeks later and steal his exclusive?) but also just where everyone went next and if their paths crossed again later on. Do the others get jobs at Dave and Henry's radio station, or find themselves reunited on the staff of some tiny local paper or hobby magazine? How long does Joy stick it out in the art world, or Helen get stuck selling sandwiches?
I'd prefer some humour here, even if pretty dark, but happy to see it mixed with more dramatic elements. Maybe something a bit action-adventure-y - teambuilding weekend turned survival story, Damien recruiting the others to help with a break-in, spies after information they think the Globelink team has - whether played more straight or as a complete farce. Or any of the team dealing with being injured or ill (I feel like both Joy and Helen would be bad at conceding weakness in different ways, Damien's canonically terrible at it, and Dave's life is enough of a disaster already).
I'm also always here for characters from mundane canons stumbling over something supernatural. Damien's canonical belief in Tarot and prophecies and willingness to do anything for a story seem like a ready recipe for occult hijinks, or maybe post-series some of the team could end up working for a magazine or podcast doing paranormal investigations.
Shipping:
- Gen shenanigans very welcome, but I can also buy this group of human disasters hooking up in almost any possible combination, whether among the nominated subset or the wider ensemble. Open to any ships you feel like writing here, and equally happy for it to end in canon-typical disaster or turn out surprisingly well. Not really looking for a PWP or a major focus on smut, but some sexual elements as part of a story where there's more than just that going on would be fine.
Do Not Want:
* Real-world politicians or media figures appearing as actual characters in the fic. (Canon-style topical gags and references to interactions the cast have had with them off-screen are fine.)
Additional Notes
Tie-In Canon:
- I haven't seen the recent 'Drop the Dead Donkey: The Reawakening' reunion play, but have sought out what spoilers I could find, so I'm equally happy if you want to incorporate elements from that into any post-canon fic or ignore it completely. (I have read the Drop the Dead Donkey 2000 tie-in novel, but given that's off in its own weird little alternate timeline that goes AU from both the show ending and reality, I don't know that it's particularly relevant to incorporate any of that into a fic for the TV canon anyway. But you can if you want to!)
Crossovers:
- I feel like the TV news concept lends itself well to potential crossovers if you want to go there. If you know my other requested fandom Yes Minister I would definitely enjoy a crossover between the two, or else some other politics and media-related fandoms I'm familiar with from this year's tagset are the House of Cards Trilogy (UK), The Thick of It and Sports Night.
Infamous Iron Man (Comics 2016)
Characters:
- Victor von Doom
Request:
I really enjoyed this series' take on a more 'heroic' Doom, and especially how despite having shifted focus from conquest to less villainous ways of trying to fix the world, he still fundamentally never quite grasps that other people's opinions matter and maybe he should ask what they actually want instead of just doing what he's decided they need. (I am very here for tales of Doom determinedly going around doing good deeds for people who would rather he did not.)
It would be great to see a story contrasting past and present Doom - maybe a Doom vs rogue Doombot clash, the arrival of an AU Doom from another reality, or some plot device that forces him to don his old-school armour - and how the people around him who've come to know the new Victor react to that. Have they begun to see him differently without realising it? I'm also interested in how Victor feels about the absence of his scars, and the ability to now be an anonymous face in the crowd again. Is it liberating not to have to be Doom all the time, or is it a constant struggle with his ego to deal with not being instantly recognised?
I'd be interested in outsider POVs of interactions with him from people who don't initially know who he is; perhaps even a five-things-style story of multiple people who encounter him and their differing opinions, or Ben's POV of the changes in him. I'm also kind of fascinated by the detail of Doom having kept a framed college-era photo of him and Ben and Reed together - what's the story behind that? I think a time travel adventure taking Doom and/or the others back to their college days could be interesting; would they see their past selves and interactions through new eyes, or still end up blinded by long-held convictions? What about a canon divergence where Tony Stark never returns or the rest of the Fantastic Four come back early and Doom stays on as Iron Man?
Shipping:
- Gen very welcome; if you want to ship Doom with Ben or Reed, I'm up for that too, though I'd prefer a first-time-type story that explores how they become involved rather than an established relationship where they're already together. Would also love to see more of whatever complicated thing is going on with Doom and Amara in this series. Not really looking for a PWP or a major focus on smut, but given potential themes around Doom being healed of his scars and able to go without armour for the first time in forever, I'd be open to sex scenes that get into exploring that angle.
Do Not Want:
* Mundane/no superpowers AUs where they're all just ordinary humans.
* Soulmate AUs where the pairing are destined to be together.
Additional Notes
Tie-In Canon:
- I'm pretty familiar with Doom's past appearances in other comics, so if you want to incorporate backstory elements from other series, go ahead. I particularly like his portrayal in Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four/FF run and the 2015 Secret Wars event that led into this series, plus the backstory from Books of Doom. I haven't kept up with any comics since about 2020, though, so I don't necessarily have much familiarity with stuff that happened after IIM ended.
Crossovers:
- I know the Fantastic Four comics pretty well and would be happy to see any additional F4/FF characters appear if you want to involve them. I haven't really followed what's been going on in the Marvel comics universe in recent years, but am generally familiar with the broad strokes of who's who and what they were up to prior to IIM, so if you wanted to do anything with different heroes and villains reacting to the new improved Doom I'd be up for that. Please no crossovers with any of the movie versions of the characters, though.
Yes Minister
Characters:
- Humphrey Appleby
Request:
Just requesting Humphrey here since he's my main favourite; I'd be equally happy to read fic of him interacting with any or all of the other nominated characters, or even any of the wider cast. Canon-typical political shenanigans are always welcome; I'm very fond of Hacker too, and particularly enjoy the rare moments where he and Humphrey team up against a common enemy. An occasion where Bernard gets to be the one to save Humphrey's bacon through the power of pedantry or knowing something he doesn't for a change could also be fun, or perhaps an exploration of their pre-canon dynamic before Hacker joined the department. And since we don't get to see that much of Humphrey interacting with Annie in canon, an incident where they have to work together to help her husband could also be pretty interesting.
I'd definitely prefer humour in this fandom, but feel free to mix it with other genres if you want! I'm always a sucker for characters from mundane canons encountering supernatural elements: maybe there are traditions around keeping the Whitehall ghosts happy that Hacker foolishly wants to upend, or the members of one of Humphrey's gentlemen's clubs are involved in some terribly embarrassing business with the occult. Or what about a spy adventure or murder mystery, whether semi-serious or more farcical? Maybe Arnold knew more about John Halsted's spying than Humphrey was aware, or Bernard gets mistaken for a courier, or a junior minister turns up mysteriously dead at a really inconvenient time.
I'd also enjoy seeing the characters out of their usual element in some way: stranded in a snowstorm after an event, stuck in an airport or motorway service station, by some terrible turn of events that Humphrey may never recover from ending up in a fast food restaurant or greasy spoon café, etc.
Shipping:
- Gen is always very much welcome, but if you want to write Humphrey/Jim, Humphrey/Bernard or explore Humphrey's relationship with the barely-glimpsed Lady Appleby, I'm here for that too. The canon Jim/Annie relationship is also fine to feature as much as you want.
Do Not Want:
* References to real-world politics other than pre-80s historical figures.
* Humiliation humour. (I find it really hard to watch episodes like The Key where Humphrey completely loses his dignity. Happy to see the tables turned and Hacker or whoever else score a win over him, but my embarrassment squick really can't take dignified, status-conscious characters being publicly humiliated.)
* Explicit sex scenes.
Additional Notes
Tie-In Canon:
- I've read the tie-in novelisations as well, and I know sometimes people in the fandom write fic that mimics their formatting; that's cool if you're inspired in that direction, but certainly don't feel obliged to stick to that formula. I'm not familiar with the stage plays beyond some vague osmosis, but feel free to incorporate elements from those as well if you like.
Crossovers:
- If you know both this fandom and Drop the Dead Donkey, a crossover with the Globelink News team trying to interview Hacker could be fun! Or if you want to cross it over with other political fandoms in the tagset, I'm also familiar with the House of Cards Trilogy (UK) and The Thick of It.