Yuletide 2022

[hearteating]

Dear Yuletide Author,

Thanks for writing for me! I'm hearteating here and on AO3. Below are my likes and DNW, and then fandom-specific prompts and ideas. I'm looking forward to whatever you produce, and I hope you have fun with your assignment. Don't be afraid to get self-indulgent, either! I love reading stories where it's clear the author is just having the time of their life.

I've asked for all these fandoms before, and received wonderful fics for some of them, and I will undoubtedly ask for them again.
 

General/Narrative Likes: monsters; magical realism; larger-than-life characters/scenarios; canon-divergent AUs; non-mundane AUs; future-fic; adventure; character studies; need vs want vs have; missing scenes; ethical dilemmas; friendship; found/made family; competence; cooking; dream sequences (that aren’t the entire fic); banter; fight sequences; introspection; worldbuilding; time travel; loyalty (to people or to causes); casefic

 

Ship-related Likes: Complicated feelings; bad at feelings; friends-to-lovers; enemies-to-lovers; slow burn; awkward flirting; fake relationships turned real; intimacy; sensory details; handholding; pining; forehead-touching

 

Smut Stuff: intercrural; orgasm delay/denial; multiple orgasms; overstimulation; awkward sex; hand kink; oral; messy sex; nonpenetrative sex; bloodplay; manhandling; hair kink; power dynamics; laughter during sex; body worship; consent issues due to outside forces; eye contact during sex

 

DNW: Pregnancy; body horror or body modification beyond canon-levels; A/B/O; incest; major character death (permanent); infidelity/cheating as a focus or plot point; medical kink; underage (15 and under); hopeless endings; mundane AUs; issuefic, cannibalism ft discussion of different cuts of meat; scat/watersports/"hygiene issue" type sex stuff

Fandoms: Daniel Blackland series, Withnail & I, The Lion in Winter, The Exorcist


Daniel Blackland series
Gabriel Argent, Max

I love the worldbuilding in these books. Bone eating! Cannibalism! Water magic through signs and sigils! Bureaucracy! The alternate history! There's so much hinted at and ripe for exploration. I've received a fic for this series before, and it was absolutely fantastic, and now I crave more.

I love what a bureaucratic nerd Gabriel is, and Max's progression from hound to AD of the Water Dept. I definitely ship Gabriel and Max, and love their loyalty to each other. There's a lot of excellent potential for them. I also dearly love all the other characters in the series and would be delighted to see them in the fic. And OCs, too!

Prompts if you want them:

• "Are you fucking my hound?"- Considering how Gabriel was very careful in trying to establish a sense of equality between him and Max, and not to make Max feel like he was a thing, how would their relationship change if they were fucking (from the start)? Would it be a power play on one of their parts? Gabriel trying to keep Max loyal or Max trying to make sure Gabriel finds him useful? Would it change things down the line?
• Osteomancer!Gabriel AU- I feel like this would be pretty dark, but I'm also very intrigued by how osteomancer!Gabriel would be different from how he is in canon. How would his and Max's relationship be different, considering Max's sensitive nose and Gabriel's relatives?
• What happened during the ten years between California Bones and Pacific Fire? What sort of power plays went down in LA that the new Director of the Water Department and his Assistant Director had to deal with? How did the progression from allies to best friends go, and did they even notice the progression? How many attempts on Gabriel's life have they had to deal with (or on Max's life)? How many people assume they're fucking, and are they/did they?
• What was Max's life like before he became a hound?

Withnail & I
Peter Marwood, Withnail

This movie is so difficult for me to recommend to people and I love it so much. Richard E Grant and Paul McGann are brilliant, and their relationship is fascinating and hilarious and tragic. They have history between them, and their lack of work, and they're so careless with each other while still, on some level, caring deeply. Also, they both seem to be fairly bad at being people, which makes their choice of career even more interesting to me.

I do ship them, in a trainwreck sort of way where there's a level of misery and codependence. But I'd also be delighted to receive something that explores their relationship further, whether that be in the past or a future where they end up meeting again.

Prompts if you want them:

• Always and forever- bad sex. Just the worst, really. The two of them coming together for whatever reason and even if the feelings are there the experience is just awful and humiliating for one or both of them. Erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation or teeth where they shouldn't be or technically it could be worse but for whatever reason it's still awful. Crying maybe?
• Pining/feelings realization, whether that be to themselves or to each other. I'm a sucker for these stories and would love to see something at any point in canon (esp as post-canon there would be the shadow of their failed holiday between them)
• How they met and the start of their friendship- Withnail, particularly, is a difficult person, so I'd love to see how they got to where they are
• Post-canon- does Marwood's career really take off, or was it just a one-time thing? Does Withnail at least pretend to pull himself together, or get even worse? How do they meet up again?

The Lion in Winter
Geoffrey Plantagenet, Philip II

Geoffrey was my favorite character in the movie, and young Timothy Dalton was a huge babe, and history said they were pretty close for a while, and I ship it. Geoffrey trying to manipulate everyone in sight and Phillip not doing a bad job of it himself makes for interesting possibilities. I really just love all the political machinations and high drama and would love to see anything with them as allies or even enemies! The rest of the messed-up Plantagenets are definitely more than welcome to come along, too.

Prompts if you want them:

• There are a number of fics out there already about Geoffrey swearing fealty to Philip and the two of them engaging in subtle scheming and one-upmanship, and also sex is involved and whoops feelings. I love these stories and would be delighted to read another one.
• Being self-indulgent for a moment- political hostage AU? Where Geoffrey is kind of the worst hostage, because Richard and Eleanor don’t really care about him, and this is a poke in the eye to both him and to France (“oh sure, we’ll give you a hostage…this spare son”). How would this change things? What awful bitterness and scheming would there be? How long has Geoff been in France, and does this affect Henry’s rebellion or Richard’s time in France?
• Missing scenes from the movie! Scheming, smooching, swordplay, talking about Eleanor and Alais and the whole messed up family situation…anything.
• Ghost story! After Geoffrey’s death, he decides to come back and haunt Philip. Or he doesn’t decide to, but finds his spirit is bound to Philip and they’re both kind of put out by it.

The Exorcist
Marcus Keane

I started watching this show due to my massive crush on Geena Davis, and fell in love with the rest of the cast, the writing, and the potential of the show. I was so disappointed when it was cancelled- it’s the kind of horror I love, and I was so curious as to what was going to happen with Tomas and Marcus and Mouse and Bennett and the whole conspiracy!

 

Ben Daniels does such an excellent job as Marcus, and I love his complicated relationship with the church, where he both barely respects it and has his entire identity built around it. I love his fierce love of God, and the equally intense betrayal he feels when he stops hearing Him. One thing that really interests me is how he says Gabriel is the first one he’s lost during an exorcism…and then in S2 we find out he abandoned Mouse midway- I guess that didn't for some reason? Marcus compartmentalizes a lot, and yet lets his emotions just tear through the place as well. I love him. I love his relationships with pretty much everyone he comes across, and any author should feel free to include any other characters from the show, if they so desire. I’d also be interested in OCs, if that’s what takes your fancy. If you want to get shippy- I like Marcus/Tomas, Marcus/Peter, Marcus/Regos, Marcus/Bennett, and Marcus/God.
 

Prompts if you want them:

• Marcus backstory! His childhood, his first “official” exorcism, meeting Bennett, the aftermath of Mouse…anything you can think of pre-show, I’m interested in. There’s a lot we don’t know about Marcus, after all!
• The missing six months. What was he up to during this time? Mental and spiritual recovery? Helping out at the local church? Learning about Pacific Northwestern wildlife? Taking odd jobs? Secret adventures?
• Reunited- post-S2, Marcus reunites with Tomas and Mouse- how has he changed? How have they changed? What is the state of the demons’ plotting? Is a road trip involved?
• The Trials and Temptations of Marcus Keane- how have demons tried to get into his head over the years? How close have they come to succeeding? Has he built up a resistance over time, or did he start off stalwart and his walls have become more fragile over time?
• Marcus and God- I am so interested in Marcus’ very personal relationship with God. If you want any kind of saintly spiritual ecstasy, I would be very down for that, but a character study about his thoughts on God or anything like that would be great.
• I love Marcus’ relationships with the kids in the show, and I’d love to see more of that, so- Marcus with any of the nominated kids! Something character-study-y or post-canon, or whatever.
• For this canon, I’m especially interested in horror tropes/stories, religious symbolism, magical realism, or anything to do with fate/agency. There’s a lot of stuff to play with, I think.