Yuletide letter 2019

[merryghoul]

Hi, Yuletide writer! I'm merryghoul. I have a few media accounts here and there, but if you want to see what I'm into fic-wise, you can check out my Pinboard: merryghoul.

Please note: For all my requests, I'm not requiring you to write all the characters together in a fic. Feel free to write the character/s you want to write about.

Also: if any of these prompts don't inspire you at all, feel free to go ODAO. I'm totally okay with it.

General Likes | Darkfic Likes | Porn Likes | DNWs | Raven’s Home (TV) | Westworld (TV) | Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe (Emotion Picture) | Preacher (TV) | What We Do in the Shadows (TV) | Killing Eve (TV 2018)

General Likes
Here's my list of general likes:

works focusing on crimes

hurt/comfort

most AUs (e.g. canon-divergent, vampire, porn star, or anything else you can think of)

angst

fluff

the friends to lovers trope (where applicable)

magical people and worlds

sharing a bed

pretend couples

Darkfic Likes
If you're considering to write something for Crueltide or something darker for Femslash Festivus for me, I would not be opposed to the following tropes:

addiction

amputation

animal abuse

apocalypses

betrayal

body horror

brainwashing

cannibalism

character death (major and/or minor)

child abuse

claustrophobia

conspiracies

degradation

disease

dystopias

gaslighting

hauntings

humiliation

hypothermia

insanity

invasion of privacy

medical experimentation

mind control

murder

mutilation

dubcon and/or noncon

paranoia

poisoning

prison (and prison-like structures)

PTSD

sadism

suicide

torture

violence

Lovecraftian cosmic horrors

Porn Likes
For more sexually explicit fics/Yuleporn/porny Femslash Festivus fics, my favorite kinks are:

knifeplay

spanking

bondage

begging

femdom

sex toys and strap-ons

the "aliens made them do it" trope

the "sex pollen" trope

cunnilingus

tribadism

mutual masturbation

But if you want to write something sexually explicit without any particular kink, I also like that as well.

DNWs
I would like to not see or read about the following:

character bashing

unrequested crossovers

mundane AUs

characters getting pregnant with and/or raising original child characters (however, I’m cool with fics with children that already exist in the canon when applicable)

fics written in second person POV

Don't worry about following prompts to the letter or at all--I'm sure what you write for me will be amazing.


Raven’s Home (TV)
Chelsea Grayson, Raven Baxter (Raven’s Home)

Note: This show is currently airing on American television. This prompt has spoilers up to the episode “Friday Night Tights.”

What I like the most about Raven’s Home is Raven and Chelsea's friendship. I tend to wear my slash goggles when I watch this show, and I find it very, very slashy. And there’s a ton of innuendo in the show. But it’s okay if you don’t see this show as slashy and subtext-y as I do. And because the canon hasn’t expanded on a lot of their backstory (yet), I feel there are so many stories than can be written about these two.

Please ignore or minimize Mitch the child landlord of the apartment complex in your story if you write him. Also, no Chelsea/Garrett (her ex-husband; but Garrett in the fic is fine).

For Raven alone, I’m curious about her jobs. How did she end up working for a fashion label designing clothes for dogs? What stopped her from starting her own label/or boutique? How is she managing Ravenous? What happened to her assistant? Why is she working as a driver for Scüt (the show's parody of Uber/Lyft), and why does she bother to stay with Scüt? Why does she have costumes (for tacos, sharks, rabbits, et. al.) in her closet?

I also feel Raven is perfect for AU situations—what if she already had her own successful fashion label, out of college? What could’ve happened if she didn’t let that fly that landed on her face derail her stepping career? Those are two I thought of the top of my head, but there are so many other situations that could make other AUs. Or you can focus on Raven’s relationship with her children, like an unseen misadventure at their school or in their apartment.

For Chelsea alone, I’d love to see more of her interactions with Garrett, and how she dealt with the fallout after their relationship ended, including Levi possibly still retaining some of her ex's bad habits. Or: There are a few episodes in the second season where Chelsea disappears, and the show doesn’t explain her disappearance. She also only briefly appears in the “Sleevemore” episodes and doesn’t go to Sleevemore’s headquarters for his psychically gifted children with Levi. Later, it's revealed she went on a trip with her college friends to Vegas. So how did that go? In the third season, Chelsea decides to go on an inventions cruise—I’d like to see what happened on the cruise before Raven and their kids decided to go to New York to attempt to pick her up.

For the two of them, I’d love to read about any of their implied or seen adventures held between That's So Raven and this show. The implied adventure that happened on oversea waters from season one. When Chelsea went into selling home goods on television? Or anything else—this show implies (especially in the first season) that they both had wacky pre-series misadventures. If you want to focus on getting them away from their children for a night out (true to the wackiness of the series, or something more toned down), feel free. Like, for instance, that one time they went to that nightclub with a bank vault in it, but without their kids. Or an AU where Raven also went on that school trip. Or if you want to do something with their kids, that’s great as well—something like a school dance or some scheme involving money that the kids need their help to start or get out of.


Westworld (TV)
Charlotte Hale (Westworld), Clementine Pennyfeather, Dolores Abernathy, Maeve Millay

Fandom notes: Please no fic on the second version of/New Clementine. Other than that, I have no preference over what version of Dolores (the one portrayed by Evan Rachel Wood, or the one portrayed by Tessa Thompson [Halores]) or Charlotte (human!Charlotte, or the host that looks like her without Dolores’ “chestnut”) appears in a fic.

I ship Maeve/Clementine, Maeve/Hector, Dolores/Charlotte, Charlotte/Clementine, and Hector/Charlotte. (Of course, any of the ships with Hector in them are optional.) I’ve left some shipfic ideas in Maeve and Charlotte’s sections, but don’t feel like you have to write shipfic for me.


Maeve: I loved Maeve’s first season arc, where she went from questioning her existence as a host to almost leaving Westworld. And I loved her second season arc, where she ignored Dolores and her “deathbringer” host gang to travel with her own gang of allies, all so she could find her daughter. I found it sad when she had to give up her daughter after finding her again, but heartwarming because she did manage to brave fighting hosts and Charlotte’s rewired Clementine to ensure her safety. I find her quest to gain control in her life as a, well, sentient robot touching and inspiring on a personal level.

With Maeve and Clementine, I’d love to see a moment not seen in the show with them, e.g. a moment where Clementine isn't picking up a guest at the saloon for sex. Was there a moment where Maeve had to comfort Clementine for some reason?

Or what if Maeve found a way to revive Clementine instead of leaving her behind in Cold Storage, and Clementine joined her search party?

What if Clementine became as aware of her surroundings like Maeve was and assisted her in gaining control over the Mesa Hub?

With Maeve and Hector, I’d love to see more scenes with them, set in canon or possible AUs, of them falling in love with each other.

What if Hector was programmed to specifically love Maeve from the start? How would Maeve react?

What if Maeve took Hector with her as she initially attempted to leave Westworld?

What if they both survived and made it to the Valley Beyond? Would they live together as a family with Maeve’s daughter there?

I’d also like to see Maeve’s life before being reprogrammed to be a madam:

Scenes from her life in Escalante.

Scenes from her life with her "daughter" before William killed the two of them and Maeve was reprogrammed.

Scenes not shown in the show as the search party traveled through Westworld and Shogun World.

I’d like to see if Maeve was able to stay with her daughter until they reached the Valley Beyond with her search party, instead of being forced to have her protected by Ghost Nation.

What if, after meeting Akecheta and Wanahton before finding her daughter, she decided to join forces with Ghost Nation to find her daughter?

Clementine: Clementine is one of the oldest hosts, and there’s a bit of mystery around her. She used to be the madame at the Mariposa, but something happened. She was replaced by first Maeve and made a co-madame of sorts. Then she was replaced by another host. It feels like Delos sees her as disposable (see also Charlotte turning her into a host that can make other hosts fight and kill each other). Despite her poor treatment by the people that commissioned and worked on her, I still find Clementine a fascinating character.

Clementine had to be active in Escalante if she’s an old Host. What did she do there? Did she live in Escalante, or did she live elsewhere, like Maeve and her daughter? What was it about Clementine that lead Delos to move Clementine to Sweetwater and to the Mariposa?

Clementine in her days as the Mariposa madame before Maeve arrived. Did she want to be the madame at the Mariposa? Did she like being the madame there? How did she feel when Maeve was installed as the madame at the Mariposa?

Clementine with Dolores’ gang. What other things did Dolores task Clementine to do before she was killed again?

Clementine after Charlotte reprogrammed Clementine. How were Clementine’s thought and operating processes changed? Did she want to cause the hosts to fight each other? Or, in an AU situation, what if Clementine could resist Charlotte’s reprogramming and somehow fight back against her?

I used to not be too fond of Dolores. It’s probably because she’s shown initially to be a damsel in distress, someone to be saved by a Guest, and she’s not allowdto fight back. (Especially since the narratives she’s a part of at the start of the show don’t allow Dolores to fight back, like what happened when old William/the Man in Black raped her.) But she’s able to to break free of her loop, first as an adventurer who can travel away from Sweetwater to other parts of Westworld, then as the Deathbringer who wants humans to pay for her years of suffering. Although Dolores as the Deathbringer is an awful (but understandably awful) Host, I personally like that Dolores can finally make her own decisions instead of forever being stuck dropping a can in Sweetwater waiting for Teddy to pick it up.

Dolores: There are so many places to explore in Dolores’ life that, if you’re keen on exploring a particular part of it not seen in canon, feel free.

You can explore Dolores in the real world prior to Westworld opening, and her thoughts and feelings about the outside world, Arnold, and Ford. One of the things I wouldn’t mind seeing is more of Dolores programming Bernard so he functioned like Arnold. One scene from Dolores’ tests, or a day outside of her usual loop to program Bernard—I’m just interested in what it would look like.

And there’s that’s bounty hunt with young William and Logan. Was there more to that bounty hunt?

Or scenes from Dolores getting together her Deathbringer army together in “The Journey Beyond” narrative.

An AU where Dolores actually killed Charlotte with the bone saw—how would that have affected Dolores getting out of Westworld?

More scenes of Halores with Bernard in Westworld, before Bernard unscrambled his memories.

When Halores left Westworld, did she do anything before reaching Arnold’s house? I imagine she might’ve been excited to be in the real world again, and this time not tethered to anyone’s narrative. (But she’s still in a body that looks like a Delos employee.)

I also wouldn’t mind any speculative stuff involving Dolores and the Charlotte Hale host from the season three San Diego Comic Con trailer.

Charlotte: Charlotte was more of a minor character in Season One. But I grew to like the character because of who she is. She doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings—human or host. And she pays for it, slowly—she’s trapped in Westworld after the “Journey Beyond” narrative starts, she fails to download information from (old) Peter Abernathy before he dies that Delos would’ve wanted, and she’s killed by Dolores in a host body that looks like her. Ironically, she gets to live forever, like she always wanted, but not how she wanted to live forever. So if you choose to write about human!Charlotte, I want to read about her being condescending and cocky to nearly everyone she meets. As for now, though, host!Charlotte is a blank slate—who knows how she’ll behave in the future?

I ship Charlotte with Dolores and Clementine, but I’d imagine it would be fucked up and full of consent issues. So I’d imagine Charlotte calling up Dolores (or Clementine!) from their narratives, having them sent to her room outside Westworld, probably to make sure they’re up to standards to fulfill Guests’ sexual desires. Charlotte doesn’t think the Hosts have independent thoughts and feelings, after all. I’d love to see Charlotte whatever she wanted to Dolores and/or Clementine, quite possibly without them fully realizing what happened to them. I can also imagine Charlotte doing things to Clementine as she’s reprogramming her before sending her to the Valley Beyond. I imagine the opposite situation could’ve happened to host!Charlotte after Dolores rebuilt her original body in Arnold’s home—Dolores taking advantage of host!Charlotte, with or without a “chestnut.” But if you’d like to write porn, and have a different scenario for any of these these parings, feel free to run with it.

With Charlotte alone, there isn’t a lot of in-canon information (yet?) on how human!Charlotte climbed the corporate ladder at Delos. It appears is if she used to be an assistant monitoring the James Delos hosts in their simulated bedroom, but she managed to make it to become Executive Director of Delos Destinations, Inc. How did she do this? How did her climb up the ladder influence her later arrogant behavior?

Did Charlotte ever travel through Westworld prior to her first appearance on the show? What narratives did she choose, what hosts did she interact with, how did she treat the hosts?

I’d like to see more of Charlotte developing the Clementine that inspired the hosts to fight each other near the Valley Beyond.

As for host!Charlotte, I’d love to see what “chestnut” Dolores gave her and how host!Charlotte may act differently from human!Charlotte.


Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe (Emotion Picture)
Ché (Dirty Computer), Jane 57821 (Dirty Computer), Zen (Dirty Computer)

Please note: The “emotion picture” is around 50 minutes, and is age-restricted on YouTube, if you encounter any trouble trying to access the video. If you saw the music video on television, the YouTube version has a scene that was cut for the televised version. Also, the initial credits for the YouTube video are placed earlier than they were for the TV version. There’s also a “director’s cut” version of the “emotion picture” on Amazon Prime, but it’s just additional behind the scenes footage that doesn’t add to the “emotion picture’s” narrative.

I’ve liked Janelle Monáe’s music for over a decade now. This “emotion picture” is still one of my favorite canons because it’s a queer sci-fi love story between Black people that doesn’t end by utilizing terrible, tired anti-queer tropes (e.g. specifically introducing a man to break up a F/F couple, or killing one of the partners). And it does end with a happy ending—at least for Jane, Zen, and Ché.

I’d be delighted with anything you can write about Dirty Computer—gen or shippy stuff between Jane and Zen or Jane, Zen, and Ché, if you’re not inspired by the following.

In general, I’d love to see stuff about how this dystopia came about. Were Jane, Zen, and/or Ché there when the House of the New Dawn came about? What about those parties where the Dirty Computers come to gather? Why have the Dirty Computers settled on such period-specific clothing for their gatherings? I’d also like fic that further explores any of the music video segments more.

Janelle Monáe here says that Jane’s Walk felt like, for Jane and Zen, a seemingly final chance to hang on to their love and who they were before the House of the New Dawn; I’d love to see fic that explores the moments before and after that Walk.

After the end of the “emotion picture,” what happened to Jane, Zen, and/or Ché? Did Ché ever walk again? Did he lose any of his memories? Did Jane or Zen, or possibly Ché, recover their lost memories, or do they just have moments where there are blanks in their heads? Do they eventually try to rescue other Dirty Computers converted by the House of the New Dawn?

For Jane alone, I’d love to see how she engineered getting Zen, and later Ché, out of the House of the New Dawn. How’d she come up with the “dreams” that the cleaners couldn’t erase?

For Zen alone, I’d love to see a further exploration of Zen’s hobbies that were mentioned in the “Emotion Picture:” anything surrounding the trumpet in the “Screwed” segment (yes, I know, the trumpet bit is also a double entendre), that part where she’s like a priest shaving off peoples’ heads, her love of drawing/tattooing, or anything else. Or I’d also love to see Zen shortly after she’s captured, taken in the van, and presumably driven to the House of the New Dawn. How did she lose her memories of Zen and Ché? And how did she eventually become “Maryapple 53?” (I’ve also seen the name spelled as Mary Apple 53; I’m not picky about the spelling of that particular name.)

Anything you can tell me about Ché, if you choose to only write about him, would be excellent. How does he feel about these parties? What does he do away from Jane and Zen? What happened to him specifically when he was caught by the House of the New Dawn?


Preacher (TV)
Jesse Custer (Preacher TV), Proinsias Cassidy (Preacher TV), Tulip O'Hare (Preacher TV)

I like everything about this crazy religious satire of a show. I don't think Tulip, Jesse, and Cassidy would consider themselves a team or a family, but I love the team and family dynamic that they have going on. I hate when entities like the Grail try to split them up, and I love how, in the end, all three of them would do anything for each other.

I ship Jesse/Tulip, Tulip/Cassidy, Jesse/Tulip/Cassidy, and Jesse/Cassidy, but gen is fine with me.

Some prompt ideas:

Tulip and Cassidy reluctantly helping Jesse in Annville. Or anything involving the three in Annville.

Something wacky that happened during a pit stop (between the first and second seasons). The crew have to get blood for Cassidy, or have to rescue Cassidy from someone that doesn't notice he's a vampire and have to rescue him from cold storage or the like. Pub crawl down time away from searching for God. Or anything that could've occurred on their road trip to New Orleans, or anything that happened in New Orleans.

What if Jesse allowed Tulip to become a vampire instead of hoping she can be revived at Angelville? How would their lives have changed?

Anything pre-series: Jesse and Tulip together—as kids, as a young couple, committing crimes together. Cassidy before he met Jesse and Tulip, with or without his son.

Anything set while Tulip and Jesse were trying to save Cassidy from the Grail.

Anything set while Tulip and Cassidy were looking for Jesse or trying to hold Humperdoo ransom.

Anything set between the main storyline and when Cassidy commits suicide: Tulip and Jesse raising their child. What do they tell her about Cassidy? Why does their daughter really, really look like Tulip? As originally the offspring of an angel and a demon, does she have Genesis-like powers, or is she mostly human?

What Cassidy did past the last time he saw Tulip and Jesse alive.

An AU situation where Cassidy is involved in Tulip, Jesse, and their daughter’s lives.


What We Do in the Shadows (TV)
Jenna (What We Do in the Shadows TV) Nadja (What We Do in the Shadows TV)

I feel there are so many stories to be told with What We Do in the Shadows (the TV show). There are so many open ends that might never be answered by the show. For Yuletide, I decided to focus in on two characters I like and would love to know more about.

I ship Nadja/all the versions of Gregor, Nadja/the Baron, Nadja/Lazlo, and Nadja/Jenna, but I’m not opposed to gen.

Nadja: I’m happy with anything centered on Nadja! I’d like to see more on her relationship with any of the Gregors (and how she maneuvered around Lazlo to see them). Partying with Simon the Devious before the start of the series. More with the Baron before on on that night out before he died—how did they end up sleeping with each other? Anything with vampire orgies. Did she turn other people before Jenna?

Jenna: I’d love to see more of Jenna trying to figure out her undead life. More on her transformation. More of her trying to get to daytime classes while trying not to burn to death. Does she still go to frat parties to stalk prey, or does she seek it elsewhere? Does she still LARP?

Nadja and Jenna: Together, I’d like to see more scenes of Nadja helping Jenna out with her vampiric transition—either set after that frat party or AUs where Nadja is more involved with Jenna after turning her. Do they go hunting together? What do they learn about each other, and do they discover they have more powers than they currently know about?


Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Eve Polastri, Villanelle | Oksana Astankova

Eve and Villanelle’s cat-and-mouse game is still intriguing to me. The longer it goes on, the more it seems, to me at least, that Eve and Villanelle are similar, although Eve works for a government agency and Villanelle is a contract killer. I also liked how the second season touched on misogyny with Hugo and Raymond through a know-it-all Oxbridge kid and an abusive handler, respectfully.

I ship Eve and Villanelle, but gen fic for both or one of them is okay for this fandom.

For Eve and Villanelle, canon divergence AUs for these two are welcome! I swore the end of the first season of Killing Eve would end with Eve and Villanelle on the run. It didn’t. So what if they did travel together on the run then? Or any other canon divergence AU would be great—what if Eve decided to sleep with Villanelle instead near the end of the first season? What if Eve and Villanelle found each other after the Julian incident, but before Raymond picked Villanelle up? What if they really did try to make a run to Alaska at the end of season two? What if Eve found some way to actually have sex with Villanelle in Rome instead of that “threesome” with Hugo?

For Eve alone, I’d love to see Eve’s life before the show—how she ended up in London, the monotony of her MI5 job. I’m not too crazy about Niko—feel free to include him in a fic, but I don’t want a heavy focus on him. Otherwise I’d love to see her interactions with the people she used to work for.

For Villanelle alone, I’d love anything about Villanelle’s life before the show. Her love of perfume. Her relationship with Anna. Working as an assassin. One of her kills. I’m also open to canon divergent AUs with Villanelle: What if Anna did follow her to Paris? What if Villanelle took pity on Irina? What if she actually killed Konstantin? Or: What if she did head to Alaska alone without Eve?

Happy Yuletide, writer!