Just Off the Key of Reason

I am doing Yuletide again! I am excite!

Dearest Darlingist Yuletide Author,

I promise I will like anything you write me because it will be for me, in one of the tiny fandoms of my heart. And they are all tiny fandoms of my heart.

This year my requests are a really broad cross-section of my tastes. There’s one beloved YA series, one m/m historical romance, one very, very queer SFF novel, one classic movie, one superhero comic, and one heartwarming f/f tourism commercial. That last is a five-minute fandom, so if we matched on something else and it's just not working for you, that's a potential fallback.

I read het, slash, gen and poly fic pretty much indiscriminately, and I will be thrilled by anything you write me, whatever genre it fits into, as long as it respects my DNWs.

I’m highly smut-positive, but I certainly don’t expect it, seeing as how I’ve never written anything over a T rating myself. For everyone’s convenience, I’ve split my “Things I love” into two lists, one general, one porny. Feel free to read or ignore the second list as you prefer.

I love unusual and experimental fic styles. Epistolary fic, found documents, oral history, interactive fiction, poetry, unusual povs, I promise to be thrilled by anything you come up with.

On the AO3 I’m fairestcat

I’m most active fannishly these days here and on twitter, where I’m also fairestcat. Although I'm flirting with Tumblr again this week, I'm not sure if it'll take or not, but I'm fairestcat there and once upon a time I posted a lot of comics stuff there.

Things I Love: queerness, polyamory, found family, emotional intimacy, friends to lovers, friends with benefits to lovers, enemies to lovers, age differences, shifting power dynamics, emotional h/c, AUs of any variety, time travel, future-fic, characters who are bad at feelings, relationship negotiations, trope subversion, cultural differences, class differences, self-destructive tendencies, moral ambiguity, loyalty, first times, banter, snark, historical details, unreliable narrators, trust, political maneuvering, unusual mythology, competence, porn with plot

Porny Thing I Love: D/s, bondage, rough sex, orgasm delay/denial, multiple orgasms, body worship, possessiveness, fisting, double-penetration, oral sex, fingering, dirty talk, praise kink, strength kink, sex toys, biting, bruising, angry sex, pain play, wall sex, consent play, partially-clothed sex, strength kink, spanking, overstimulation, impact play.

I love smut most when it tells me something about the characters involved and their relationship to each other. If a particular act/kink/setting feels right for the characters and it’s not on my DNW list I’m all for it.

Things I DNW: infidelity, jealousy presented as romantic, body horror, non-sexual humiliation, embarrassment, character death, unhappy endings, food kink, medical kink, scat/watersports, pregnancy/childbirth, monogamous soulmates/soulbonds, public sex, animal harm, disparaging previous romantic/sexual partners, we're not gay we just love each other, bisexual erasure, non-con

Also, I realize the below is A LOT of optional details, because I have too many thoughts and feelings about these fandoms, but optional details are most decidedly optional, feel free to use or discard this information as you see fit.

Also, some sections are longer than others. Don't take this to mean that I want some fandoms more than others, I just have more to say about some things, but I'd love fic for them all equally.

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones - Mordecai Roberts | Tacroy, Flavian Temple

What it is: A series of standalone middle grade fantasy novels all sharing a universe and some characters. Mordecai Roberts and Flavian Temple have the most page-time and plot relevance in The Lives of Christopher Chant.

I am endlessly fascinated by the relationship between these two in The Lives of Christopher Chant, and also the contrasts the book draws between them. The way Christopher immediately becomes fast friends with the dashing Tacroy | Mordecai, but immediately takes a dislike to the more stolid, kind Flavian. The way they both try to protect and care for Christopher, but what he sees as friendship from one he sees as stifling restriction from the other. The way they seem to be opposite sides of a coin, but really have more in common than you might expect.

I’ve shipped Mordecai Roberts and Flavian Temple together since before I even knew that’s what I was doing.

Christopher had still not learnt the names of all the sober-suited men round the Sunday lunch-table. “Which one is Mr. Mordecai?” he said.

“Mordecai Roberts -- he’s a particular friend of mine, but you won’t have met him yet,” said Flavian. “He works for us in London these days.

- The Lives of Christopher Chant

I shipped these two long before I learned enough queer history to know how often “particular friend” has been used as a euphemism for queer relationships, but now every time I reread this book (which is often, it is a fast favourite), I sigh over this line.

Even if you don’t take it to be a euphemism, this phrase “particular friend” is an indication of a closeness that makes the later revelation of Mordecai’s working for the Wraith all the more agonizing and heartbreaking.

For all the series brings Mordecai/Miss Rosalie together quite firmly, and for all I in fact like Mordecai and Miss Rosalie together, it’s the breaking and remaking of Mordecai and Flavian’s friendship I always wanted to read more about.

I’ve not included her in my requested characters, but I’m quite happy to have Rosalie appear in the story, either as a friend or a romantic partner to Mordecai. Even as a proto-fan I was a poly shipper, and I happily ship Mordecai/Flavian/Rosalie, or Mordecai/Flavian & Mordecai/Rosalie.

If you only want to include one relationship, or no relationships at all, I would be very happy with that as well, as long as the focus is on Mordecai and Flavian’s friendship. Tell me about the way they eventually find their way back to being friends. Have them discuss Christopher and how differently he treated the two of them on first meeting. Or just give me a quiet domestic moment set at any time in the series.

The Turner Series - Cat Sebastian - Lord Courtenay

My one repeat request from last year, mostly copied from last year’s letter.

What it is: a connected series of three m/m historical romances, but Lord Courtenay appears the most in the third book, The Ruin of a Rake.

My review of The Ruin of a Rake on Goodreads is here.

Oh God, COURTENEY. I love all of Sebastian’s characters, but Courtenay holds a special place in my heart.

The thing where Courteney has spent so much of his life focused on making the people around him happy that he’s only now figuring out what makes him happy? Yeah, that. I really, really, really want fic about that.

I’d especially enjoy fic set within or post-canon for this fandom. I find Courteney figuring out his interests and passions, in and out of the bedroom, really compelling.

Out of bed: once the scandal around the “duel” with Julian has died down, does he take up his seat in the House of Lords advocating for social reform? Or does he decide to stay in the country doing the smaller but equally important work of advocating and working for his tenants?

In bed (or settee, or other suitably appealing location): the way Julian makes Courteney ask for what he wants during sex? I find that hot as fuck AND incredibly emotionally satisfying.

I also love the found family happy ending of this series and would take anything and everything about that, as long as Courteney is at the center of the story.

Special mention: I really found it refreshing that none of the conflict between the characters in this story had anything to do with their sexuality. Courteney has a lot of angst and shame to work through, about a lot of things, but none of those things is his queerness, and I LOVE that.

Bonus points for kittens. Because canonical kittens.

Philadelphia Story (1940) - Any of C.K Dexter Haven, Tracy Lorde, Macauley "Mike" Connor, Elizabeth Imbrie

What it is: A black and white romantic comedy starring Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Cary Grant and Ruth Hussey.

This is one of my favourite movies of all time. The banter, the snark, the off-the-charts sexual chemistry between the four leads, the class tension, the surprisingly serious themes of alcoholism and infidelity slipped in amongst the riotous humour.

I’ve asked for “Any” character, because I really would be happy with fic about any of the nominated characters, either together or separate.

Gen is great, and character-focused stuff is fabulous, but I also absolutely ship all the nominated characters together in pretty much any combination you could think of.

Seriously, C.K./Tracy/Mike or C.K./Tracy/Mike/Liz) has been my poly OT3/OT4 since long before I knew what either polyamory or an OT4 were.

If you want to focus on a specific relationship, I’m particularly interested in either shippy or gen fic focusing on C.K & Mike, Mike & Tracy, Mike & Liz, or Liz & Tracy.

I’d be happy with canon-era fic, or just about any kind of AU you might feel inspired by.

These are the kind of vibrant characters I could see really working in any setting. Space AU! Regency AU! Modern AU! Set it in a coffee shop! Have a wedding on the moon! Swap some genders around! Make one or more characters trans or non-binary!

How about a fusion with another fandom? Pacific Rim fusions are always excellent. I bet Tracy would be a brilliant mastermind of a Leverage-type team. There are just so many options! The only fusion I'd rather not get is a Harry Potter fusion. But anything else you can think of, I’m sure to love!

If sticking with canon, I’d prefer fic set during or after the movie, rather than before. Maybe something about Mike’s writing career takes off? Maybe Liz’s new connections help her get her big break as a painter? Tracy has so much frustrated energy and direction, how does she channel it? It’s 1940, there’s a lot going on in the world that a motivated, driven woman with a lot of money and time could get involved with.

From a future perspective, the spectre of WWII hangs over this movie more than a bit, and as a fan of domestic war stories I can’t help wondering what everyone’s life is like in a year when the US enters the war. However, please don’t get too dark or too serious. I like this movie because it’s Hijinks! with a side of seriousness, and I’d like to maintain that tone.

If you want to include any non-nominated characters, I’m particularly fond of Dinah - who would have been in the tag set if I’d had another nomination slot - and Tracy’s mother Margaret, and I’m particularly unfond of Uncle Willie and prefer he not make any appearances.

Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics) - Any of Carol Danvers, Jessica Drew, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Chewie

What it is: Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel is a powerful superhero and a giant dork. She’s had several solo series under this title, the first two written by Kelly Sue DeConnick.

I suspect most writers who offer this fandom will be most familiar with the two series written by Kelly Sue Deconnick. Those two are definitely my favourites, and I would be quite happy with fic that just pulled from them as canon.

That said, I have read every one of Carol’s solo series under her current name, including the currently ongoing Life of Captain Marvel mini-series by Margaret Stohl & Carlos Pacheco and I’d be happy to get fic focused on any of those parts of canon, with the exception of all the pre-Infinity Wars/Infinity Stones stuff in Stohl’s The Mighty Captain Marvel, because I just really don’t care about the Infinity Stones.

I love all the nominated characters, which is why I’ve not requested any specific one.

I ADORE Carol Danvers. She is My Superhero in a way few other non-X-Men Marvel characters are. I love that she’s so strong and so capable and so fierce, but also stubborn as fuck and sometimes makes dumb decisions and is terrible at asking for help, even as she’s always there anytime any of her friends need her.

I love her friendship with Jessica Drew, and have since I was reading post-Secret Invasion New Avengers. I love their banter and their shared sarcasm and the way even when they fight it’s so clear they love each other so much. They canonically call each other Kirk and Spock! After Alpha Flight gets blown up, Carol sleeps on Jessica’s floor! I actually really love Jessica as a mom, and I am ALL OVER how awkward Carol Danvers is about this whole thing where her best friends keep having kids.

And, yes, I totally ship it, and I’d be very happy to get shippy fic about their relationship, but don’t feel pressured to put a romance in. What matters to me is that they clearly love each other a lot, whether that love is romantic or platonic isn’t important.

I also love Carol’s romance with Rhodey. It’s a pairing that never would have occurred to me before Kelly Sue DeConnick wrote it, but she really sold me on it. I love that they are, above everything else, friends first. I love that they have a shared military background, but such different experiences as superheroes. And I love the core goodness that they share; if I needed a really good friend in the Marvel universe, Carol and Rhodey would be two of my top picks.

I’m really, really a poly shipper in Marvel. I don’t think there’s a single Marvel character who I only ship with one other character. Within these nominated characters, I ship both Carol/Jessica and Carol/Rhodey and I could be happily convinced of Carol/Jessica/Rhodey too. I’m also a fan of most of their other current and past canonical romances.

I'd be equally happy with gen, poly or monogamous fic. Whatever you write, please no ship-bashing of either canon or non-canon ships.

If you'd prefer to write solely about characters other than Carol, what kind of relationship do Jessica and Rhodey have? As best friend and love interest they must see each other a lot, but they are such very different people!

And now, about Chewie. First of all, how much do i love that Carol named her cat after Chewbacca? SO MUCH. How much even better did that get when said “cat” turned out to be a near-extinct egg-laying alien feared across the galaxy? SO MUCH.

I love pretty much every appearance Chewie has made in the comics, and I’d love to see a fic from her perspective. She’s such a cat in mannerisms and attitude. Just a maybe-smarter-than-average egg-laying cat with interdimensional tentacle powers. Is that inherent cattishness how all Flerken are? Or is that how Chewie has chosen to be after all her time on earth? What was that whole interdimensional tentacle-kittens saga like from her perspective? Does she ever use her undefined powers to go check on her kittens every now and then/ What does she think of all this superhero stuff Carol’s always involved in? Does she preen at living with a famous hero, or complain because they’re always traveling and her dinner is always late?

Also, have we ever seen Rhodey and Chewie interact much? I feel like fic about Rhodey and Chewie could be hilarious.

I’m usually in favour of AUs and fusions of all sort, but for this fandom I’d prefer no mundane or non-powered AUs. Canon-divergence AUs and AUs where the world is different but they still have some version of their powers are golden!

Bonus crossovery aside: I realized when writing up my prompts that three of my six canons have distinctly magical (or scientifically augmented) cats with big personalities. Chewie is the only one nominated, and the only one I’ve requested, but if you want to cross her over with either or both of Throgmorten from the Chrestomanci books or Capo from Space Opera, or really any other fictional magical cat(s), I would be completely delighted.

Space Opera - Catherynne M. Valente - Omar Calişkan | Oort St. Ultraviolet, Mira Wonderful Star, Danesh Jalo | Decibel Jones

What it is: A humorous SF novel where species are forced to participate in a giant galactic Eurovision competition to prove their sentience.

My Goodreads review of Space Opera is here.

This book, THIS BOOK.

From my Goodreads review:

I needed this book right now. I needed this explosion of glitter and glam and unapologetic queerness, a cheerful riot screaming fear and pain and hope into the face of reality.

I did not expect to love this book as much as I did, but it turned out to be exactly what I needed this year. It’s laughing-too-hard-to-breathe funny at some points, but it’s also rather dark in places. Often it’s both those things at the same time.

The world is dark, and people are awful, it says. But also, the world is dark, BUT people are wonderful. Both are important. Both are true. And in 2018 I needed that reminder.

Also, I am a genuine believer in the transformative powers of music. Rock and Roll probably can’t save us all, but it can save a lot of us, just one at a time. It has certainly, at times, saved me. Music is powerful. For all it’s definitely barbaric, the ability to craft an emotionally moving and universally appealing song is a better judge of sentience than pretty much any other equally-barbaric fictional test I’ve seen.

I’ve asked for fic about Decibel and Oort and Mira Wonderful Star because I love the three of them together, three queer, multiracial kids in a world that’s slowly revealed to be more and more of a dystopia, finding inspiration and glam and that indefinable *spark* when they all meet, even though they’re such very different people.

As I said in my review:

I loved all of these characters. Alien and human alike, they are all complicated and messy and oh so very sentient. But I love all the the Absolute Zeros most of all. I love them for their diversity, and I don’t just mean their richly varied racial and ethnic makeup, although that’s wonderful too. I love that they’re all such different people and it’s so easy in the flashbacks to see how these three came together, and how inevitable it was that they’d all fall apart.

Or how inevitable it seems, when really it turns out the world had more than a little to do with it. I loved that too.

The magic that turns individual people into A Band has always fascinated me, and I’d love a story about any of the early days of their relationship, both romantic and musical, or about some of their earliest successes together.

I’d also be really interested in some sort of AU where Mira doesn’t get in that van. How do their relationships change? With all the pressures we now know they were all under, does the band still fall apart? Do they still end up playing at the Metagalactic Grand Prix?

I’d also love to see the three of them immediately post-Metagalactic Grand Prix performance? What was THAT reunion like?!? What timeline DID Öo pull Mira from? How did their lives turn out there?

Las Vegas “Let’s Get Married” Commercial - Any of Woman #1, Woman #2, Woman #2's Mother, Woman #2s Father

What it is: A heartwarming tourism commercial about two women getting married in Vegas. This canon is available on Youtube here

I just watched this commercial again so I could write prompts for it, and it made me tear up yet again. EVERY TIME, dear writer, EVERY TIME. I love that it’s clear from the very first proposal that Woman #2 keeps demuring and laughing off the proposals not because she doesn’t want to, but because she doesn’t think she can. She loves Woman #1, but she’s worried about what her family might think of her, she’s worried about her parents view of her, and she’s worried about their judgment if she goes against their expectations for her.

And these are entirely reasonable fears, that are familiar to a lot of queer people. They aren’t unfounded fears and her partner doesn’t treat them as unfounded, but she also doesn’t treat them as true.

So I found myself wondering, were they unfounded? Had Woman #1 met Woman #2’s parents before this? It’s implied that they’ve been in a relationship for a year, so I’d like to assume the meet-the-parents had already happened. How awkward was that?

I would love fic about Woman #1 meeting her partner’s parents. And I’d love to see it go in the other direction too. Woman #1 doesn’t seem to be worried about her parents reaction at all, how strange must that seem to Woman #2?

I’d also be thrilled by fic about all the secret planning Woman #1 had to do to pull that secret, surprise wedding off. How many of their friends were there? How did she bring Woman #2s parents around to the idea of their daughter marrying another woman? Were they more okay than their daughter expected them to be, or did they take convincing?

Or, tell me a bit about that first meeting! Why were they both in Vegas? How awkward and adorable was that first conversation? Did they stay up all night talking? Did they stay up all night alternating talking and sex? Did one of them get so thoroughly distracted that she missed her flight? Where did they go home to? Were they both from the same place, or was their long-distance dating? The opportunities are endless.

And in conclusion, squeeeeeee!