Dear Yuletide Writer 2018

[maeve_of_winter]

Dear Yuletide Writer,

I should say right off the bat that my prompts are only here for guidance, not as anything you are obligated to write for me. If you have your own idea for the pairing that fits with my likes, it’s more than okay with me if you want to write that.

Also, feel free to mix and match my prompts with different pairings and fandoms. If it’s somewhere in my letter, it’s something I’m okay with receiving for any canon or character.

General Likes

-Fantastic AUs (superheroes, mutants, supernatural, fairy tales, etc)

-Christmas/holiday fics--decorating, baking cookies, doing Secret Santas, etc.

-Strong/determined/competent characters

-Characters being badass

-Characters surprising other people with their talents/competence

-Iron woobie/determinator who refuses to quit no matter what kind of horrible stuff life throws at them

-Characters turning the tables on someone who's trying to trick them

-Characters fighting for and earning their happy ending,

-Hurt/comfort

-Angst

-Pushing forward through/after a trauma

-Characters being put through secret tests of trust and passing them

-Characters making enormous personal sacrifices to save others

-Characters being recognized for their accomplishments

-Characters revealing hidden pasts/traits/skills

-Characters offering compassion/reassurance to those who need it


DNWs

-Homophobia, either internalized or externalized*

-Biphobia

-Bi erasure**

-Issue fic

-Ageplay/age regression

-Wingfic/Body modification

-Soulmate/Soulbond AUs

-Deathfic/Unhappy endings

-Gore

-Misogyny

-Character-bashing

-Irreparable harm to characters with no chance/hope of recovery

*I know homophobia/biphobia would/does exist in some of these canons, but I would vastly prefer if you just took the route where homophobia/biphobia is completely a non-issue and is just as readily accepted as heterosexual relationships.

The Venture Bros — Dean Venture

Season 5 Dean sets up probably my favorite era for his character, mostly because of the potential for delicious angst after he finds out he’s a clone. I love him emo-ing it up in the attic, and I love him the goth makeover he gives himself with his black speedsuit and black-dyed emo haircut. I’m also really intrigued by the actions he takes once he finds out he’s a clone, such as keeping it a secret from Hank and trying to reach out to the woman he thinks might be his mother.

Mostly I want happiness and success for Dean—I really don’t want him repeating the same cycle of failure that Rusty’s stuck in of trying to follow his father. I really enjoy the best friend/brother relationship he has with Hank, and I like the scenes of Brock helping him prepare for college in Season Six and move into the dorms in Season Seven, and I also enjoy how that kind of called back to Dean helping Brock study for his secret agent certification back in Season One’s “Midlife Chrysalis.” I liked the parts in Season Five where Hatred was worrying over Dean or trying to bond with him, I like that Dean took him flowers in Season Six, and I also really liked the deleted scene of Hatred mistakenly thinking Dean was in a relationship with Brown Widow but fully supporting them. (Found here if you’d like to watch).

I don’t really have any particular OTPs for Dean, and I’m fine with gen here, but I’m pretty open minded about pairings if you’re looking to include them. I enjoy Dean with Hank, Brown Widow, Sirena, or Kim, in an OT3 with Hank and Sirena, and you’re welcome to include another pairing of your choice if you’d like (I’m not opposed to age gaps). The only person I don’t ship him with is Triana, because I think it was an important milestone for Dean to realize that she didn’t like him back and adjust accordingly. But other than that, I’m pretty much fine with him being paired with anyone else.

Prompts:

-A fic with Dean struggling with keeping the secret of them being clones from Hank and exploring why he does. Is it to protect Hank? Is it because he doesn’t think Hank could handle it? Is it out of wanting to preserve Hank’s hero worship of Brock and not worsen Hank’s relationship with their dad? Since Hank is not only his brother but pretty much the only friend he had growing up and still one of the only people he knows who’s his own age, I can imagine the secret would weigh pretty heavily on Dean. How does he cope with that? Maybe that’s one of the reasons he moves into the attic—so he doesn’t have to deal with the temptation to reveal the truth to Hank? Or is it because he feels entirely disillusioned with their family and doesn’t really want to be close to him anymore? Or maybe something else? I’d just really like to see Dean’s conflicts in regards to Hank about this knowledge that he’s been burdened with.

-Brock and/or Rusty finding out that the boys know they’re clones, or if you want to set it during Season Five, that Dean knows he’s a clone.

-Dean is pretty consistently the one to bring up their lack of a mother and express interest in meeting her (“The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay,” “Midlife Chrysalis,” “Perchance to Dean,” and of course, “Momma’s Boys.” But what’s fascinating to me is that he only actively tries to seek out his mother after finding out that he’s a clone. I’d be really interested in a fic that either explores what it means to him to have a mother in his life at this point, since he’s pretty much an adult who has never had a mother figure and doesn’t actually need one at this point. So what does having a mom mean to him right now? Is solving this mystery just really important to him? Is he doing it just to know his own past? Does he think finding his mother would resolve some of the more dysfunctional aspects of his family?

-Alternatively, a fic with Dean continuing to try to find their mother, even after they’ve moved to New York City. Maybe he digs through newspaper morgues to try to find public appearances by his dad and see if she appears in any photos with him? Or perhaps he hits up his dear old Pop-Pop (Colonel Gentleman) to try to pry information out of him? Just anything with Dean trying to investigate who his mother was and what happened to her. Feel free to either go AU or try to keep this in line with the Season Seven finale; I’m fine with any way you’d like to tackle this idea.

-Something with Dean becoming a supervillain. I think he’d still be, well, Dean, but I’m interested in what his schtick or theme might be, and what would motivate him as a villain. Maybe it starts because he’s worried Hank might go down that path because of his rocky relationship with his father, so Dean decides to become a supervillain so Hank can’t? Which villain would he sidekick for at first? Or maybe Dean teams up with Kim from “Victor. Echo. November” and they rise to villainy together? Or perhaps an AU where he gets his devil costume from the “Jacket” music video and takes a job as a villainous dancer at Don Hell’s nightclub? What do Brock and Hank think? Is Rusty more angry that Dean gave up super science than he is angry that Dean’s now a villain? (I feel like the Monarch would totally taunt Rusty about this.) If he’s dating Brown Widow, would they arch each other to add some fire to their relationship? Or an AU where they’re already arching each other and then they get together after being enemies?

-In Season Five, Dean almost goes through every checkbox of a rebellious television teen (albeit in his own Dean way): dressing differently, starting to swear, burning possessions he once valued, going vegetarian (I love that Season Seven has him continuing this), modifying/abandoning his room, dying his hair, etc. But there were other typically rebellious things he didn’t do: bring home a boy his dad was sure to disapprove of, start dressing more provocatively, or begin to act out sexually. Maybe you want to add to his rebelliousness by having him do one or more of those things in a fic?

-If you’re in the mood to write fluff: the origin story of Dean’s stuffed giraffe. It clearly means a lot to him, and if you watch the first few minutes of “What Color is Your Cleansuit?” closely, it looks like he doesn’t burn it with the rest of his things, so now I’m curious as to where it came from. Maybe it was the first toy Brock bought him when he came to work for the family? Or maybe it was (or Dean suspects it could have) given to him by his biological mother? Maybe Rusty took him and Hank to a fair or carnival as a special treat and Dean won it as a prize, or Hank won it for him? Or if you have an idea that’s angstier, you’re welcome to write that one here as well.

-Something about Dean finding out what complete creep Jonas actually was, or something creepy with Jonas trying to revive himself through Dean, either by taking over his body or reaching out to Dean in some way to try to restore himself into a physical body—maybe by using the nanobots in Dean’s body from “Faking Miracles”? Or maybe he uses the machinery in Venture Tower to gaslight Dean and make other people think he’s losing his mind so that no one will be able to notice when he takes over as Dean? Feel free to go AU with this or bring it into line with canon. I’m just really into the idea of a creepy fic that had Jonas stopping at nothing to use Dean until he’s defeated by Team Venture or Dean himself.

-Fluff fic with the family—I’m always up for something heartfelt with Dean and his dads or brother, and I especially like stuff about Brock bonding with the boys as children.

-Pairing fluff fic with Dean and a romantic partner of your choice.

Young Justice — Cissie King-Jones (Arrowette)

If you want to reread Cissie’s origin issue, here is a link to it on imgur.

I really like Cissie; her dour and almost bored recounting of her messed up life and her relationship with her mother in her origin issue grabbed me right from the start. Her complex relationship with her mom is really interesting to me, as while Cissie and Bonnie do clearly love each other, Bonnie is incredibly selfish and is seemingly unaware that she’ should protect her child from harm rather than placing her at the forefront of it, and Cissie is very aware of how utterly flawed her mother is and doesn’t respect her or really think of her as a parent. I also really like that Cissie is a young heroine who is realistically uncertain of if she wants this particular role after it’s been thrust onto her, and that she continually struggles with the issue of whether she wants to be a hero or if she’s just been brainwashed by her mom into thinking she wants to be a hero.

I have a lot of ideas for Cissie, but mostly they boil down to wanting her interacting with other heroes and exploration of her ambivalent feelings on her position as a hero.

I’m more interested in receiving fic focusing on Cissie herself and her own conflicts rather than ship-focused, but if you wanted to include a ship, I enjoy her paired with Bart or Kon, I think Cissie/Stargirl would be an interesting approach, especially considering their different perspectives on being a hero, and I’d really enjoy any kind of friendship fic for Cissie, either involving her teammates or anyone else.

Prompts:

-During the campout with the Young Justice team, Cissie mentions she’s no longer sure if what she thinks is actually her thoughts or thoughts put there after years of having her mother coach her. I’d be really into a fic that explores the sheer weirdness and dissonance of Cissie not actually knowing who she is because of her mother. And maybe this changes a little bit after she is removed from her mother’s custody and starts attending the Elias School?

-It’s implied that Cissie was raised in isolation and privately tutored throughout most of her life, presumably so that school wouldn’t distract her from her training. What’s it like for her to suddenly go from having no friends to suddenly having a bunch of friends? Did she even realize before that she’d been lonely? Does it increase her resentment of her mother? Does it cause a bigger internal conflict for her about whether she wants to be a superhero now that superheroing was the thing to introduce her to her first set of friends?

-I don’t think it’s ever explained how Cissie went from her glitzy white and gold “beauty pageant” outfit to her regular red Arrowette costume. But I like the idea that another DC character, be it hero, villain, or civilian, helped her out with it in some way, either by giving her tips, commenting on how impractical the white and gold outfit was, or actually helping her with making a new outfit. Some of my other favorite DC characters are Trickster I, Pied Piper, Guy Gardner, Beast Boy, Duela Dent, Harley Quinn, Jay Garrick, Alfred, and Linda Parker-West. But if you have a different character in mind who you think it would be interesting to see her interact with, please feel free to write about her with one of them.

-I’d be really curious to see more of Cissie’s encounters with other DC heroes outside of her team, either during the time when she’s out of her mother’s custody and living at the Elias School but before she joins the Young Justice team, or when she’s still in her mother’s custody and basically being pimped out for publicity. I imagine some heroes would be skeptical of her, some would be worried for her, and others would be like Max Mercury and try to call social services. Or maybe it’s so bad that even one of the more moral villains makes that call instead? Feel free to use any character(s) of your choice.

-Mission fic with Cissie working together with superheroes outside of her team.

-A fic where Cissie is hurt or sick and is legitimately shocked that her teammates or another hero is worried about her and tries to help her. I can’t imagine Cissie got much TLC from Bonnie when she wasn’t able to play her role, so I think it would be pleasant surprise for someone to show Cissie that her health and safety is more important than if she’s on the front page of the newspaper.

-I really enjoyed the scene when Cissie takes the entirety of the Justice League to task for trying to shut down Young Justice on the basis that they’re not mature enough to be on a team together. I like that she clearly admires and respects them, but she also refuses to let herself be controlled by them. It’s possible that since the main authority figure Cissie had in her life was her mother (who was miles from being a role model) that Cissie understandably just doesn’t have much respect for authority figures. I’d be really interested to see how this influences her career as a hero, particularly since she’s not completely on board with being a hero to begin with. Does she trust the judgement of the heroes she finds herself working with? Does she trust them to help her with her mom, or does she consider herself to be on her own where that’s concerned? Or does she consider herself less than them because they choose heroism when she was pushed into it by her mother? I’d just be really interested in an exploration of how being forced into being a hero by a failed adult hero has shaped Cissie’s perspective on other adult heroes.

-I really enjoyed the appearance of Hal Jordan at the funeral of Cissie’s father (he was delivering a life insurance check), and I also liked that he was immediately unimpressed with Bonnie. Maybe a fic where he remembers Cissie and makes a point of checking  up on her throughout the years? Or maybe a time when he was off-planet or on a mission and couldn’t make it himself, but asked another hero or Green Lantern to check on Cissie for him?

-An AU where Cissie didn’t meet Max Mercury and Impulse when she was fighting the Spaz and therefore never got taken out of the custody of her mother. Does she still end up joining Young Justice? Does her mother *allow* her to join Young Justice, or is it something Cissie has to keep a secret to prevent her mother from ruining it? If so, how does Cissie keep her teammates (and the Justice League) from finding out about her mother’s, er, eccentricities? And does she have any kind of unaddressed issues since she never would have been in therapy with Dr. Money?

-So I know it’s a total prompt cliché to ask for “What if two characters with similar roles interacted?”, but I’d love to see Cissie interacting with Green Arrow in some way. I’d be really curious to see what she thinks of him—I think she’d be impressed by his talent, but since he’s part of the reason her mom has such a fixation on pushing her into being a hero, maybe she also resents him, or is at least kind of reluctant to have much to do with him? And what about Ollie? Does he remember Bonnie at all, or does a chance encounter or mission with Cissie forcibly remind him of her?.

New Teen Titans — Gar Logan (Beast Boy AKA Changeling)

Gar Logan is definitely my favorite DC character of all time. One recurring theme in later comics books and adaptations that continually frustrates me is when Gar is shown as incompetent, completely lame, or a total joke to make other heroes look more cool. I’d really like to have a fic where Gar’s leadership and/or strategy abilities are emphasized, as well as his kindness and generosity. If you want to write Gar as being able to shift into a regular person/regular animals, please feel free.

 

I loved his characterization in Wolfman and Perez’s New Teen Titans: he runs his father’s company in his absence, he’s still traumatized from losing the Doom Patrol, he falls for Terra only to be betrayed by her, and then his pain from losing her is resurrected when Terra II comes along. I like that as friendly as he seems, he still has a dark side, as seen when he kills Madame Rouge and attempts to kill Slade Wilson. I also liked that Slade was sort of Gar’s mentor for a while, and of course, I adore his friendship with Vic (Cyborg).

For pairings, I like Gar with Vic Stone or Dick Grayson, but feel free to include your own pairing, or forgo pairings entirely. The only pairing I really don’t enjoy is Gar/Raven.

Prompts:

 

Gar is a character who I feel is often unfairly stereotyped and dismissed. Possibly a five times fic where a hero or villain underestimated Gar, only to have him prove them wrong? Or if you just want to have Gar interacting with other heroes and solving crises, that would be wonderful!

 

-I would love a fic with Gar proving his competence to people, always being the team member with a plan, or simply being the supportive figure other characters can go to with their problems. I would love something with Gar cementing his badassness to the rest of the team.

 

-At the beginning of New Teen Titans, Gar is a young teen (sixteen years old, and the youngest on the team) who has gone through enormous trauma. Maybe a fic with him working through the major changes in his life and coping with his resulting issues?

 

-An AU where Gar is working for a villain, either through brainwashing, desperation, or being forced into it, and then helping out during a crisis, proving himself, and being welcomed to the team.

 

-Being a hero and having powers is very important to Gar, and he’s never really been the type to long for a normal life. Still, I think it would be interesting if after losing so many other Doom Patrol and Titans members, Gar finally decided that he was going to settle down, give up the superhero lifestyle, and take over Dayton Industries until he’s approached to mentor a younger hero (or heroes), either by the younger hero themselves or someone else. I think it would be interesting if he was reluctant or divided at first until he started training them or doing missions with them and realized just how much he missed that life and was reminded of what being a hero meant to him.

 

-I enjoy characters with dark pasts or inner turmoil, and I also like villains having a fascination for heroes. Maybe a villain is trying to sway or tempt Gar to the dark side, or something happens that Gar’s friends or other heroes begin worrying about this happening?

 

-If you’re interested in writing about Slade Wilson and Gar Logan, either platonically or romantically, please go ahead. The conversation between Slade and Gar at the diner at the end of the Judas Contract was one of my favorites. I also liked how Gar was sorta-kinda Slade’s substitute son for a while. If you want, write about Gar being swayed or tempted to the dark side by Slade, or Gar’s friends or other heroes worrying about this happening.

 

-Maybe an AU where Gar is the mole of the Judas Contract, and is either sleeping with Slade or just Slade is his adoptive dad, and then Gar falls for one of the other Titans, and decides to work with the Titans for real?

 

I also love Gar’s contentious and complicated yet ultimately caring relationships with Steve Dayton, his adoptive father, and Questor, Steve’s assistant. Maybe a fic about them worrying about him while he’s on a mission?

 

-A fic with Gar killing Madame Rouge as he did in the comics and the rest of the team reacting to it. When Gar was sixteen years old, he killed Madame Rouge in a fit of madness, and immediately regretted his actions, denouncing the idea of murder as revenge. Yet even though most of his teammates, particularly Wally and Dick, would have had an issue with him killing someone, we never see their reactions, and it’s never really mentioned again. What do his teammates think? Is the Justice League more wary of him and deciding he needs to be assigned a mentor to monitor him? Maybe more vigilante-like heroes unassociated with the League actually congratulate him on it, which upsets and confuses Gar?

 

-Gar began began working together with the Titans when Gar was the youngest of the team, only sixteen, while everyone else was a legal adult. Does Dick or any of the other Titans ever feel guilty or conflicted about involving a minor on the team when the rest of the Titans are adults?

 

-Competence!kink: Gar runs around saving the world, stopping the bad guys, and impressing other heroes without missing a beat.

 

-Something with Gar and the other Titans rescuing Vic during the Technis Imperative?

-Gar shacking up somewhere in the countryside (if you like, with romantic partner of your choice) and opening his home to be a sanctuary for traumatized/injured/exhausted heroes.

The Trixie Belden Mysteries — Dan Mangan

I’ve always been intrigued by Dan’s character and his relationships with the other characters, but he get so little focus in canon that the readers never get a lot of insight to his interpersonal interactions. I’m really curious about what other people think of him, and what he thinks of them. One of my favorite Dan moments is when he instantly goes to help Trixie save Bobby when she asks in The Black Jacket Mystery despite 90% of their previous interaction being them insulting each other, and when he tries to fight off a mountain lion with a switchblade to

One thing I’d prefer not to receive is a huge focus on Dan’s criminal past. Of course, mentioning it is unavoidable, but I’m not really a fan of the longstanding trend in fandom to write him as someone desperately atoning for his past sins who joined the BWGs as a way to make amends for wrongs he committed. I tend to see him as someone who turned to crime out of desperation and the need to survive, given the deaths of both his parents, and has accepted that he did what he had to do then and doesn’t continue with it anymore. I’m more interested in seeing his current thoughts and relationships than him endlessly recriminating himself over his past.

 

I’d really be interested in him bonding with Regan or Mr. Maypenny, but I’d be really into seeing him meeting and getting to know the other residents of Glen Road. Mostly I just want happiness for him—maybe people are suspicious of him at first, but then he proves he’s a great guy after all?

 

Don’t feel obligated to include pairings, but I ship Dan with Jim, Dot, Jane Morgan, and Mart. I’m into age difference and underage, so I’d also be super into him having an affair/relationship with Andrew Belden, Mr. Wheeler, Mr. Belden, or both of the Wheelers.

 
 

Prompts:

 

-Fluffy curtain or holiday fic with Dan and the partner of your choice. Or them rescuing him when he gets captured by a criminal, or taking care of him when he’s finally rescued at the end of The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest.

 

-Friendship or bonding fic with Dan and another BWG.

 
-I’ve always thought Mr. Maypenny must have been one hell of a guy to take in an unknown juvenile delinquent. I’d be happy about anything with him and Dan bonding. I’d love to see something with him rescuing Dan from villains or poachers on the game preserve, taking care of him when he’s sick or been injured with one of Trixie’s mysteries, or just generally becoming comfortable in playing the parental role to Dan and realizing what Dan means to him.

 

-I’d also be really interested in seeing Regan becoming closer with Dan and taking on a more parental role. I understand Regan wasn’t too fond of him at first, but I’d really like to see them become closer when Regan convinces Dan to let down his defenses. I’d also love a hurt/comfort scenario with Regan taking care of Dan or rescuing him from baddies.

 

-Regan is Dan’s uncle, but Regan is close to all the BWGs. How does Dan feel about this? Does he ever feel jealous or insecure? Does he ever compare himself to the other BWGs? Does he ever think that Regan likes them better? How does he overcome this? Or maybe Regan struggles with Dan being more cynical and savvy than the other BWGs, but ultimately accepts Dan for who he is?

 

I think it’s really sweet that Mart gives Dan his BWG jacket to wear, especially since it’s embroidered with Mart’s name. I’d love to read a fic, either friendship or romantic, with Mart first presenting Dan with the jacket.

 

-A fic with Dan bonding with either Mr. Wheeler or Mrs. Wheeler. I think it would be really interesting if he struck up a kind of intergenerational friendship with one of or both of them. Maybe they got close during one of them times all of the BWGs were off on a trip and Dan stayed behind? Or maybe Dan came to the aid of one of them after they were injured on the game preserve in some way, or vice versa? I’d really love to see a situation where one of them take up for Dan or defend him to someone else.

 

-Something about Dan becoming close to the other BWGs. I imagine even when he accepted their offer of membership, he must have been a little uncertain of them, especially given the initial bad blood between them. But I’d like to see something when he realizes that they’re not just a bunch of spoiled rich kids and they are actually interested in being his friend.

 

-I’d be really into sugar daddy/hooker fic where Dan becomes the kept boy/side piece for Mr. Wheeler or one of Mr. Wheeler’s rich and powerful friends or with Andrew Belden. For the former, I’d be really into it happening either during one of Andrew’s trips to Sleepyside or one of the BWGs trips to Missouri or Iowa, and Dan seducing Andrew or Andrew coming onto Dan during stolen moments away from the others. I’d love to see Andrew or Mr. Wheeler or other wrestling with his conscience either as the seduced one or the one doing the seducing, but ultimately being unable to resist Dan.

 

-I’d love to read a fic with one of the other older male figures, like Brian or Jim or Tom, worrying for Dan and treating him like their kid brother. Dan might be skeptical or vaguely annoyed by it at first or consider it condescending, but maybe he’s secretly touched by it and glad that he’s been accepted?

 

-I don’t think it’s ever stated how long ago Dan’s parents died, but I’d be interested in seeing a fic where it’s more recent and he’s been spending the entirety of The Black Jacket Mystery grieving them, hence his short temper in that book. I imagine it would have been difficult to cope with on top of everything else that was going on, but I’d like to see him dealing with and ultimately overcoming his grief as he adjusts to life in Sleepyside.

 

-I’d love to see Dan making friends outside of the BWGs. I have nothing against them, but I’d also like to see Dan forming new bonds. It could be that he regularly stops for tea and chat with Mrs. Vanderpoel or another neighbor, or he could make friends with other kids at school,  (Jane Morgan is one of my faves, and I’d love to see Jerry Vanderhoff learn some chill and strike up a friendship with him), or it could be one of the BWGs’ friends from out of state. Maybe he and Dot get close over ice-skating? Whoever it is, I just want Dan to have someone he can rely on and who recognizes for the brave, “ready to take on a mountain lion with just a knife to protect a girl who dislikes him and who he dislikes right back”-type of guy that he is.

 

-Competence kink with Dan being admired by various people for his talents and abilities and his quick thinking to get himself and other people of the dangers that Trixie and Honey’s mysteries put them into.