dye_ann

Dear Yuletide Writer,

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Welcome to my letter, I’m very excited for this exchange.

I’ll do my best to give you an idea of what I like in general and what I particularly love about my requested fandoms, and prompts to use as inspiration if you’re so inclined. Prompting is also something I do for my own fun: don’t feel too compelled by what I suggest. In case you need more inspiration, on the other hand, my general likes can just as well provide some help.

Have fun and create something you love. I say that every year, but it’s still true after a fair number of exchanges: I’m always a bit awed by the idea of having someone writing for me specifically, and I trust you (because you have excellent taste!) so if you’re dying to write that specific idea you had in mind when you offered the relevant fandom, be my guest.

I’m Beatrice_Sank on AO3, here’s my account, if you’d like to know me better. My bookmarks are not necessarily a good representation of my reading habits as a whole, but you can find things I tend to enjoy there, and some of the fandoms I’m familiar with if that’s an information you need.

Language note (though I doubt it will apply): I also read French (it’s actually my first language), so I’m happy to receive something either in English or in French if you prefer to write in that language.

I’m very glad to receive treats and unplanned gifts!

General likes

Themes, atmosphere and tropes

Banter, future fics, fix-it, backstory, plot used to develop relationships, world-building, character study, competent female characters, experimental writing, alternative story-telling forms (letters, found manuscripts or records if it works with the fandom, outsider point of view…), found intimacy, intimate body language, found families, queer narratives, conflicting world-views and people having their reasons, moral ambiguity, historical details, sensory notations, time-loops of the “Groundhog Day” kind, AU of the “what if” kind, heist fic, tropes subversion, humor, melancholy, a little psychological cruelty when it fits the story too.

Ships-wise: romantic and sexual tension (resolved or unresolved), pinning, slow burn, friends to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers, love/hate relationships, fake/pretend relationships, angst, accidental proximity, subverting power dynamics, people falling in love While Trying Not To, things changing so gradually it’s hard to name it, little touches and physical reactions, sensual things going on at a slow pace, first kiss/getting together (not a fan of established relationships, by which I mean that the characters are already together when the fic begins), porn used as character study, characters expressing their feelings by actions instead of words, characters being so comfortable with each others they barely realize they’re behaving like couples and keep being in denial.

Smut-wise: praise, alternate power dynamics, desperation, teasing, repressed character letting go, dom/sub undertones or even full dom/sub dynamics depending on the context, sex in semi-public places, voyeurism and mirrors, overstimulation, dirty talk/banter during sex, body worship, phone sex, edging, intimacy issues, clothed sex. I’m fine with dubcon, but no non-con, please.

It’s worth noting that I’m very much open to sex scenes for every shippy request, but it’s by no mean mandatory if you don’t want to write them (fade to black is fine by me, as well as romance without sex scenes).

Opt-ins: any rating, any tense or point of view, any additional character showing up (even if they’re not nominated), experimental writing all the way if it fits your project, your gender headcanons for the characters, ambiguous/bittersweet endings.

Madame de... || The Earrings of Madame de…

Baron Fabrizio Donati; Countess Louise de…; General André de...

About the exception in my sign-up: I’m fine with not using all the requested characters here, and don’t worry either if you use all three but they don’t have an equal amount of importance in the fic, I’m interested in various configurations and dynamics so I’m certainly not picky with that. But I’d like for at least two of them to show up, even if one is much more at the center than the other.

I did a promo post about this fandom, which you can find here: I don’t feel there is much I can add so I will mostly copy-paste what I wrote an elaborate when needed!

I really do believe this one of the best romance movies I've ever seen: it has a lot of the exquisite romantic tension you expect from costumes drama, but with more freedom and nuances than the archetypal relationships associated with it. The psychological aspects of the story are really quite fascinating, because the characters are all playing a part that's cracking at the seams under the force of feelings that cannot be fully expressed. As the General tells Louise, "To please you, I forced myself to play a role I do not like." On the surface, everything is sumptuous and perfect, like Louise's dresses and fur coats, but underneath there's a sort of intensity that culminates either into passion or cruelty. Another quote, that sums up the movie to me, is something else from Louise's husband to her: "I'll tell you a secret. Our conjugal bliss is a reflection of ourselves. It's only superficially superficial."

I think one of my favourite things is the fact that the husband is at first sympathetic to his wife's falling in love with another man, and treats it like a whim and then something he must help her grow out of, out of love for her. He tries and tries until he realises how much he has underestimated the depth of those feelings and can no longer pretend to be indifferent. It makes the love triangle so much more interesting than it usually is. And on the other side of that you have all those landmarks of romance: the balls, the confession, etc. I think ultimately it’s that combination of sharpness and intensity of feelings that gets me, and the way the characters move constantly from a very witty comedy of manners to this great tragedy of the emotions until they understand they have to choose between the two.

I’m interested in anything that furthers the fascinating relationships in the love triangle between Louise, the General and Baron Donati. Among other things, I'm very much interested in the role the General could have played in all this, had it not ended so tragically (by his own fault, I know). Anything from his perspective would be great, and I suppose my ultimate fantasy lands in the realm of the OT3. I could see André finding a sort of voyeuristic place in Louise and the Baron's love story, before being slowly integrated to it when it becomes too painful. Something where Louise/André is end game after all would also be of interest to me: there's a sort of enigma to their marriage, to them together, that the movie alludes at but is unable to explore, and I want more of that. Also I'm sure there's a lot of potential for André/Donati too, through Louise or perhaps even despite her.

So in short: future fic, alternate universe to avoid the ending, OT3 or any side of this M/F/M, twists welcome, any rating welcome too (I love myself some period drama porn occasionally). It’s also worth noting that I’m not opposed to any of them dying at some point: if you need the tragedy to make your story happen, go for it. I’m also here to see them suffer, so that’s a free pass for hurt, with or without comfort.

Prompts

- Faced with his wife’s illness, the Count takes upon himself to convince Donati to forgive her, for her sake. He becomes a sort of intermediary between them, and that sort of transforms their triangular relationship.

- Possibly a continuation of the previous idea, but could be treated as a different take too: somehow the Count becomes a peeping Tom to Louise and Donati’s romance. How does that affect him? Visually, this movie is all about windows and internal frames and looking or not looking at people (declarations of love are often made when facing away from the person they’re directed at, for example), so I think I’m interested in something that explores that idea in the context of voyeurism and the emotions associated with it. And perhaps it’s even more twisted than that, and Louise or/and Donati know they’re being observed and play along for some reason?

- For a possible alternate universe, what if the Count had somehow saved Donati’s life on the day he has his hunting accident (the one that makes Louise faint), and it created a stronger bond between them? Perhaps their relationship becomes more and more important and interferes with Louise’s romance with Donati, perhaps Louise’s feelings evolve differently seeing they’re closer, or perhaps it becomes something else entirely.

- Accepting to sacrifice his love and his pride, the Count steps aside and let Louise live her romance with Donati, feigning nonchalance as he slowly descends into despair. Something makes her realize what he’s doing eventually and she reconsiders her feelings for him. Or perhaps Donati notices something, with a different result? Alternatively, you can go tragic and have them build their love upon his suffering.

- To take revenge on Louise after her first lie about the earrings, Donati decides he’s going to become the Count’s closest friend. But the situation slowly escapes his control…

- Louise ran away from both of Donati and the General, and they have to work together to find her. Perhaps that’s another way to bring them closer.

- What if Donati and the Count found their way toward each other after Louise’s death?

- Epistolary works well with this fandom, so anything about the letters they all send each other (and steal to each other/read when they’re not supposed to, etc.) could be nice.

- I would love anything that takes advantage of the historical setting: are they forced to travel together to some luxurious hotel for a peace conference of some sort? Or around Europe in luxurious trains?

DNW: gore, underage, non-con, A/B/O, watersports (sexual activities involving urine and/or feces), unrequested crossovers, soulmates and that brand of AU where you change the setting (coffee shop, space, vampires, etc.): canon divergences are fine.

Mame

Mame Dennis; Vera Charles

Mame and Vera’s dynamic may be my favourite thing from this musical, and we’re speaking of a show where Angela Lansbury has starred, so that’s telling you something. I have to confess I nominated those two with shippy intent, but I just love the “frenemies throwing shades while being absurdly extravagant” vibe so much, and Gen will make me very happy too. There’s just a thing about the historical period, the clothes, the way they bicker, and the whole hedonistic philosophy behind it that’s so out of date yet so alluring (that being said I think we can all agree the “southern Belle” fantasy of the musical is best left behind). This canon has such a general queer vibe you can probably see it from the moon, and even if you go with platonic exploration of their relationship I think the “found family” aspect of it is interesting. Look, I just like that they’re not “normal” in any way and very unapologetic about it. In this house, we’re really digging this diva/queen vibe.

I really don’t mind if you ignore parts of canon for this, especially Mame’s marriage (but that could also create interesting situations with Vera, so it’s up to you). Feel free to explore gender and identity issues if you find the idea interesting: Jerry Herman and Bea Arthur will be proud of you.

Prompts

- In general, I’m very keen on scenarios where they just live the life, as they tend to do: give me extravagant clothes, exciting settings, knickknacks, parties, what have you.

- Building on sexual tension while in rehearsal for Vera’s play would be great. “The Man in the Moon” is a very interesting song in that sense: that lady in the moon sure sounds lovely, according to Vera… Anything in the broader context of theatre world is sure to delight me. For example: the masculine lead for one of their plays is incapacitated and someone has to step up...

- Mame defending Vera against some criticism or rumour, or the other way around, and being caught at it: feelings ensue (could also be a Gen prompt). I’m very much in favour of the slap-slap-kiss trope, and all the love-hate relationship tropes, really.

- I like the idea of them taking care of each other in their own way, despite the barbs, or even through them perhaps. So I’m just putting it there.

- A drunk confession from Vera, perhaps leading to a series of comical and over the top misunderstandings (side note: if you’re uncomfortable with the alcohol theme in this canon, feel free to make it disappear).

- Since we’re talking comedy of errors, what about ridiculous disguises and mistaken identities?

- If you’re more interested in Gen: how did they meet? I could picture them competing about love interests and realising they would rather be friends because of the intellectual challenge and the sense of kinship they develop (ditching the man/men in the process).

- The shippy version of the previous idea: Mame and Vera competing for a man and realising they’re more into each other.

- Perhaps my brain is being hacked by Murder She Wrote, but I think that would be hilarious to see them playing Junior Detectives together, whether there’s been an actual crime or they’re just panicking about something they blow out of proportions.

DNW: Permanent major character death, any of them ending up with a man at the end of the fic, gore, underage, non-con, A/B/O, watersports (sexual activities involving urine and/or feces), unrequested crossovers, soulmates and that brand of AU where you change the setting (coffee shop, space, vampires, etc.): canon divergences are fine.

The Remains of the Day

Mr Stevens / Miss Kenton

I think what interested me here is the way the tragic and failed romance blends with social themes like service in England from the 30s to 60s, and the whole idea of sacrificing one’s autonomy in one way or another. I love how repressed the characters are, even if it drives me completely mad with frustration. And the way Miss Kenton and Mr Steven keep challenging each other, especially when it comes to values. I don’t think I’ll ever be tired of reading possible scenarios of how they finally get together (despite what my rational mind tells me), and I’m a big fan of the little things when it comes to them: touches, hidden emotions, unresolved tension that escalates, looks, etc. I’m very much here for any exploration of the emotional and/or sexual tension between them, through whatever mean you may think of. I’m interested in historical realism here, but on the other hand I’m not afraid of romance tropes either, and some of my prompts will take you outside the realm of realism too, don't be afraid to experiment.

Prompts:

- Miss Kenton is offered a job elsewhere, and Stevens does everything in his power to convince her to stay (including perhaps resorting to his knowledge of romance novels, or being a decent human being for once).

- In the same vein, but for something rather more acrobatics: Stevens announces her out of the blues that he plans on leaving Darlington Hall. Perhaps their relationship, professional as it may be, has become too much for him to handle. Perhaps something happened that compromised that professionalism. Perhaps it’s unrelated and he has to go for another set of reasons entirely. How would that play out? I’m thinking perhaps this, and not Miss Kenton going, could be an interesting way to develop their relationship.

- I’m amazed I never prompted for this before since I do it for basically all my fandoms but I’d love to see them solve a (small) mystery together around Darlington Hall or the village! Could be a great and more lighthearted way to see all that tension simmer, and to bring them together. Perhaps a servant is wrongly accused of stealing something, perhaps there are rumours about a ghost going around the village and they have to debunk it, perhaps there is an actual murder… I’m not afraid of a little ridiculousness here, I’m all for some good Agatha Christie fun.

- Okay it seems I’m going crazy with this respectable and dignified fandom this year but: what about a time-loop? The night before Miss Kenton departure comes to mind, of course, but I’m sure there are other points in time where it would be interesting to force them to relive their decisions. Also I suppose I’m here to see Stevens loose his patience and suffer while trapped by his own mistakes, oops.

- Let’s take everyone out of Darlington Hall for once: I’m sure Lord Darlington travels with his staff sometimes (perhaps with reduced staff, but still). What about a melancholic trip to the seaside? Or whatever strikes your fancy, really. Does a change of setting influence how they behave or see each other? Perhaps they meet new people there too, which could lead to some interesting developments. I’m all for shaking their habits up a bit and see what happens.

- What if she did come back after he offered her the job at the end of the book/movie? How does one go back to being a servant in the 60s after all this time and everything that happened? When you’re older? And how do you rekindle an old romance, especially when both parts are aware that your return has something to do with it but no one dares mention it?

- Any fake/pretend relationship/forced proximity scenario you can come up with: for example, their new employer only wants married staff and they concoct a lie, or they have to pretend for an event, or because an important guest of the house has taken a fancy to one of them and they need a cover.

- Miss Kenton is led to believe that Mr Stevens, as extraordinary as it sounds, is having an affair with someone (staff or someone in the village, perhaps a guest, I don’t know). It’s actually not the case but it drives her absolutely up the wall. Or perhaps it’s even more complicated than that and they have to go through a whole comedy of errors.

- Something something “reversed book scene” something (after the book scene, a situation in which it’s Stevens who tries to initiate contact, and Miss Kenton who’s reluctant).

DNW: Permanent major character death, gore, underage, non-con, A/B/O, watersports (sexual activities involving urine and/or feces), unrequested crossovers, soulmates and that brand of AU where you change the setting (coffee shop, space, vampires, etc.): canon divergences are fine.

A Room of One’s Own

No character nominated, so anything goes

Also known as: A Fic of Your Own.

Look, we’re on Archive of Our Own. I’m a Woolf fan and a fanfic enthusiast. And I just had the revelation that it would be beautiful and symbolic to get a AROO fic for Yuletide.

My friend, this is an all-you-can-write woolfian buffet: I didn’t nominate characters because I’ll genuinely take anything you might imagine about this book. I guess my only real preference is that I’d like the core ideas of the essay to be used at face value and not in a satirical light.

This is, I think, one of the texts that moves me the most. It tells such a quiet emotional tale of forgotten voices, broken lives, limited possibilities. I love the sense of sorority that comes from it, but also the speaker’s indignation that seeps through at various points. I love Woolf’s sense of rhythm, memorable sentences, and how fiction and reality perpetually blend together through the various figures of the essay: Judith Shakespeare, the three Marys (Mary Beaton, Mary Seton and Mary Carmichael), Chloe and Olivia, the speaker herself… I think the in-between state between full fictional characters (Judith has her whole life told, the various Mary have different personalities, Chloe and Olivia liked each other) and symbols (every forgotten woman artist is a Judith Shakespeare or a Mary, the Marys are taken directly from the ballad Mary Hamilton, Chloe and Olivia could stand for sorority or, well, they’re lesbians, Harold) is very interesting, and opens up lots of opportunities for fic. I add that I’m very open to the idea of making Virginia Woolf, or some version of her (the speaker in this text doesn’t have to fully correspond to Woolf in an autobiographical sense) a character in this. Any story that shows sympathy for the struggles the essay evokes, tries to recreate its ring in different contexts, develops the characters through time and space, modernizes the obstacles that prevent women from creating and being heard, pays homage in any way to what was lost to time, would make me so, so happy.

So, does Judith Shakespeare write fanfiction? Are the Marys all sleeping together? What about a new Mary Hamilton ballad about how the speaker isn’t allowed to step on the grass, and it’s tragic somehow? Etc. Don’t be afraid to go meta if you need to.

I’m going to prompt very broadly, but again if you think of something else, please go for it.

Prompts:

- An exploration of various incarnations of Judith Shakespeare or/and the various Marys, the various Chloe and Olivia across time and space. Since they are after all largely symbolic characters or masks for women all around the world and through the centuries, I would love to read about any different Judith or Mary or Chloe. Regarding Judith Shakespeare, I think that invites to consider what would be the equivalent of Shakespeare at various point in history and in various places, to diversify the literary figures of the essay (I’m very open to any deconstruction of the literary genius thing, by the way).

- A sort of fix-it for Judith Shakespeare’s tragic tale. I don’t particularly expect her to live happily ever after, but perhaps something a tiny bit hopeful, or less gloomy, with the idea that at least something of her lives on somewhere. What would have happened if she hadn’t die so early?

- What if the speaker lied about Judith’s story for some reason? Is there a secret society of women keeping her memory alive somewhere? In the same conspiracy vein: what if some major works of literature had actually been written by Judith?

- Lesbians everywhere! Anything about Chloe and Olivia and who they might be. Bonus points if you keep the historical setting: I’d love a 20s romance, but any other point in time could be interesting too. Also, what if one Mary liked another Mary? What would have happened to Judith if she had met a woman instead of a man in London? Etc.

- Give any of the character a room of her own, see what happens. What sort of space would it be, how could she acquire it, what does it mean to her, is it an actual room or something else?

- An anthology of the Complete Works of Judith Shakespeare (edited by one of the characters, or the speaker maybe? I would love some in-universe document with notes and references).

- Magical AU where the Marys, Judith, and possibly the others are mysterious figures that travel through time with various incarnations. Are they cursed, stuck in a loop, and what sort of powers do they have?

- I think this is absolutely ripe for crossover, of any sort. I’m going to give you suggestions, but if you want to try something very metatextual with a lot of different characters pertaining to different universes, I’m open to it even if I don’t know all of the fandoms used. For example, it’s okay to travel through the multiverse to focus on several women writers from different fandoms, be they historical figures or fictional characters.

* I’m just putting this out there on the off-chance that someone would be willing to write for this and be familiar with Susanna Clarke’s works, but I figured that given some of the themes of Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell (access to knowledge, the erasure of women in magic’s history and the general role of minorities in the book), that would make an absolutely fantastic match. What if the Marys were forgotten female magicians? And Judith Shakespeare lived in the shadow of the Aureates? Do they have something to do with faeries? What can we make of the folk ballad where the Marys are named, in this context? Of course if you’re familiar with this, it also makes a lot of sense to build upon The Ladies of Grace Adieu.

* This would probably works well too in an actual Austenian setting, but there are lots of possibilities, really.

* Do what you will with this but: what if Judith Shakespeare was the Mary Poppins of writers?

* Harry Potter: Judith Shakespeare, trans witch writer?

DNW: gore, underage, non-con, A/B/O, watersports (sexual activities involving urine and/or feces).

The Young Pope

Angelo Voiello; Sister Mary

The relationship between Voiello and Sister Mary is probably my favourite thing about this show (besides its stunning visuals and overall craziness). I mean, it ticked all the boxes for me because 1) I love myself some enemies to friends to lovers (or in that case, enemies to friends to cockblocked by the Pope) 2) I have a passion for nuns in fiction 3) older people’s romance rules and 4) I love when people bond by plotting together. All their scenes were both hilarious and adorable, and it was great to see how their relationship was used to add nuance to their characters. Their journey through the season is also quite fascinating because in some way they’re the most “normal” people in the show, they both can appreciate the value of a balanced position for the Church, the way they come to feel about each other looks worldly, simple. And yet it is anything but, because they can’t have that normalcy: they’re surrounded by people doing (*waves hand at the show*) this, the Church looks like it’s going to explode every episode, while the Pope does strange miracles and sips coke and also dies, and they’re basically star-crossed lovers of their own accord. *sigh*. I just wish they could get some peace and quiet from time to time. But on the other hand, I do love how they respond to all this by secret meetings-turned-dates in the wild and crazy schemes (we think Voiello because sure, it’s expected, but remember Sister Mary was responsible for the whole ‘fake parents’ debacle, and wasn’t that something). I like that those elderly people, who want nothing more than take a nice walk holding hands and watch sports on TV together, just have to be the Vatican’s gray eminences, because someone has to do it (okay and because Voiello loves it).

Let the record show that if you write slash for them I’m absolutely open to sex scenes (I’m a champion for older people –and nuns-- having sex lives, I guess), but I’m not prompting for that specifically and not particularly expecting it, go where you heart take you and do what you’re comfortable with. And if you want to write about something post-canon, feel free to take into account the events of The New Pope or to ignore them completely, I really don’t mind.

Prompts

- I’d really love to read anything about them getting together, in whatever context (feel free to change the canon, create you own little pocket of time inside it or go full post-canon, etc). If you need inspiration, you can give me All the Tropes: since they’re so hesitant, forced proximity seems a must (from “stuck somewhere together” to “there was only one confessional” (bed is good too)).

- Something showing how their relationship evolved across a long period of time could be great too; if you go there, feel free to ignore canon and have them reunite in some way, or just continue to live their lives in the Vatican (what if, for example, Lenny never collapsed and stayed in function?). In that spirit, I feel we don’t really see Voiello falling in love with her before his outburst in episode 5, and I’m curious about that.

- 5 times + 1 (they were tempted and resisted; “someone may see them”; they learned something about each other... etc).

- They’re so cute at the end of the show, but I was really into their early dynamic too, with all the banter going on and the idea that they’re going to be rivals: I think it would be really fun to expand on that and develop their relationship from there. Could also be a great option if you prefer Gen. It’s probably the point when they’re at their funniest, and imagine all they could do to drive the other crazy and be little nuisances.

- A confrontation between them about political or theological matters gets out of hands and evolves into… something else.

- They have to plot together to save the Church / Lenny / whatever important cause in the Vatican, and it brings them closer. Is it an uneasy or a natural alliance? What do they learn about each other in the process? What sort of unexpected intimacy does that create?

- Even though I’m forever frustrated by the finale, it had one silver lining. Lenny tells Sister Mary, who’s supposed to leave for Africa in the morning: “Before you go, if you like, you can say goodbye to the Cardinal Secretary of State”. Wink wink. That’s a missing scene if I ever knew one. Besides, I like to think of Lenny’s words as a sort of free pass for… well, whatever you like (I’m certainly not opposed to them breaking their vows). But for something more vague: since they keep meeting outside, and we never see them alone in a private context, so I’m very curious about that, especially when the emotional stakes are so high.

- God ships it. I’m kidding mostly, but I’d love to read about a series of mysterious coincidences and signs similar to what we see in the show pushing them together when they insist They Shouldn’t.

- Though I’d prefer a hopeful ending for them, I’m not opposed to exploring the more tragic aspects of their situation. The show has always been a mix of goofy and tragic (well I guess it’s mostly tragic in fact, but still hilarious), and they’re a nun and a cardinal in love, which must involve some degree of internal conflict. Something about how they torture themselves, and ideally each other too, could be interesting. Alternatively, perhaps they find each other while facing the various tragedies the show throws at them?

- What if someone (be it Lenny, one of the next Popes or even Voiello himself once he’s Pope) allowed for all the clergy to get married? How would they react? Would they still be conflicted, would truths emerge or would they disagree on theological options? I’m interested in the possibility for a relationship here, not necessarily in having them marry (although the idea of the Pope publicly marrying a nun after authorizing it is crazy enough to look promising).

- I know Lenny isn’t nominated, but if you feel like involving him, I could also see him subtly (or perhaps not so subtly) creating occasions for them OR on the contrary, trying to prevent anything between them in the background (little devil that he is).

- The walls have eyes and ears in the Vatican, so it could be nice to see how their relationship is perceived by others (so outsider’s point of view, your pick of character(s), I love the whole cast).

- For a somewhat different mood: them catching a break, being comfortable together and Not Labelling It, having little cute moments. Heck, I’m even open to some downright fluff, there I’ve said it. I mean “napping together” would be perfect too.

- A series of dreams they have about each other (not necessarily sexual or anything, just whatever sort of dream you want) and how that affects their daily life.

DNW: gore, underage, non-con, A/B/O, watersports (sexual activities involving urine and/or feces), non-canonical character death, tragic ending.