Dear Yuletide Writer,
Thanks for participating in the exchange! I love all the buzz leading up to the exchange and the cozy thrill of reading the stories in the winter darkness. I can't wait to read what you write! Here’s a bit about me and my requests.
In General
Relationship Interests: I enjoy het, slash, and femslash. Poly relationships are of less interest to me, but I am open to reading them about it if you find it makes for a compelling story. I’m particularly intrigued by romantic possibilities for older characters, sexual extortion, and relationship power dynamics and imbalances (particularly between villains and protagonists). I also like to read and write gen, including mentor/student relationships and brief moments of connection between characters that might otherwise remain strangers or enemies.
Other Likes: Gothic tales, noir, intrigue, atmosphere, vampires, ghosts, period settings, spooky monsters, ruins, fairy tale motifs, nature (forests, deserts, oceans, shores, and swamps), villains and their motives and psychological characteristics. My tastes in fic trend dark and serious, but if you'd like to write something lighter, fluffier, or sillier, please go for it.
Do-Not-Wants: cannibalism (vampires drinking blood is okay), bestiality, zombies, mpreg, gratuitous graphic violence, scat/watersports, tentacle porn, underage, body horror, animal or child abuse. Please no reader insert stories.
Gray Areas: I’d prefer not to read stories about infidelity or very explicit rape/non-con. Given my relationship interests, dub-con is okay. I understand this territory is murky, so don’t worry too much about crossing a line. I’m primarily trying to avoid really extreme or violent situations.
Story Characteristics: I’m good with missing scenes and canon divergence, but I like to stay in the world of the story, so I’d prefer the story not be set in a dramatically different AU (coffee shop, high school, etc.). I'd also prefer not to receive a story written in the second person.
Fandom Specifics
Brides of Dracula (1960)
Requested Characters: Any
Help me build up this fandom! I have a bunch of Brides of Dracula WIPs, and any story you'd write for this fandom would not only entertain me but encourage me to wrap my stories up. This sumptuous gothic film gives Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing more of a center stage than he had in Dracula, but there are so many fascinating characters in this story that I’m sure I’ll enjoy anything you write about. In case it helps, here are some suggestions:
- What did the Baroness and Greta do when they first realize the Baron has become a vampire (if they did not call for a priest or a doctor)? How did they learn that his affliction is vampirism, and not something else? How does she trap him with the silver chain in his wing of the castle?
- Tell me about a time when the Baroness successfully ensnared a woman or man for the Baron’s consumption. How does she find the victim, and how do both she and the Baron lure the victim in? You could show this ritual happening for the first time. What internal conflicts and fears does the Baroness overcome as she commits to keeping her son alive, even if it means that others will die?
- Dig deeper into the fraught relationship between the Baroness and her vampire son. Show me a scene between the two of them. This could be just after she traps him in his wing of the castle, after she brings him his first victim, or just before he turns her into a vampire and escapes.
- What becomes of Gina and the village girl, now vampires without a master? Does Van Helsing pursue them?
- What happens to Marianne? She begins the movie as a plucky but naive character. How does she change and what does she decide to do with her life in the aftermath of her encounter with the Baron?
I adore Peter Cushing and his characters so rarely have romances, so if you’d like to go that route, please feel free. Van Helsing and Marianne is the obvious pairing, but feel free to explore others that come to mind.
Frankenstein - Hammer Movies
Requested Character: Victor Frankenstein
I really enjoy how these films showcase Peter Cushing’s capacity for acting clever, calculating, sinister, and intimidating (and sexy, quite frankly). The Baron is a force to be reckoned with, and what I love about Hammer’s portrayal is that he’s so committed to his scientific advancements that he’s convincingly blind to all the horror and evil he does (as compared to Frankenstein in the novel, who seems to prevaricate about what he’s done the moment he lays eyes on his creation). So far, I’ve only seen The Curse of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, but if you’d like to build a story off of the events in one of the other films or a situation of your own invention, please do.
The Curse of Frankenstein is one of the few instances I’ve seen where a Peter Cushing character gets to be sexy on screen (referring to his dalliance with Justine, where both his arrogance and his desire are delicious.) If you want to put him in a romance or play up his sexuality, go for it. That said, please keep it in character. This includes considering how seriously the Baron is likely to take a relationship with a particular character (he can clearly compartmentalize his fondness for Elizabeth and his lust for Justine in Curse) and whether he’d even be considering lust, romance or violence depending on where he’s at with his work. (In this latter case, I’m referring to that ill-conceived rape scene in Must Be Destroyed, which is not only troubling to watch but made no sense for the Baron or Anna’s characters, and seemed to aggravate everybody involved in acting in or producing said scene.)
Horror of Dracula (1958)
Requested Characters: Dracula, Van Helsing
I love this version of Dracula. Christopher Lee's portrayal of the Count is at once terrifying and sensual, grand and feral. Peter Cushing is his match as the clever, noble, indefatigable Van Helsing. The screenplay puts some interesting twists on the original Dracula story, such as Harker going on a stealth mission to infiltrate Dracula's lair instead of just selling him real estate. I’ve listed both Dracula and Van Helsing as requested characters, but I would be happy with a story focused on one or the other, or involving some of the other characters. Some story possibilities:
- Van Helsing hunting Dracula once before and failing, almost meeting his doom.
- Van Helsing recruiting Harker to hunt vampires. Is Harker Van Helsing’s first apprentice, or has he had others (and did those precedecessors meet similar grisly fates)? Why does Harker decide to help him, especially given he’s about to settle down with Lucy?
- Dracula claiming and initiating his bride. What was their relationship like before Harker’s arrival at Castle Dracula?
I don't necessarily ship Dracula and Van Helsing, but if you want to go that route, feel free.
Prince of Persia Sands of Time - Video Games
Requested Characters: The Prince, Farah
I only play about 8 video games, and three of them are the Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and The Two Thrones from the Prince of Persia series. I love the slow-burn romance between Farah and the Prince that begins in Sands of Time and continues in the Two Thrones. That said, if you'd prefer to write about only one of the two, or to bring in other characters (the Dark Prince, the Vizier, Kaileena, etc.), please do. Some ideas:
- What kind of life does Farah lead between the events of the Sands of Time and when she encounters the Prince in Babylon?
- As she grows up, does Farah suspect the Vizier, her father's adviser, of something treacherous? (I'd be open to a Farah/Vizier ship).
- Is there more of the Kakolookiyam world that the Prince and Farah can explore together? What other lore does Farah know about the world and what do they discover?
- An extended, intimate scene between Farah and the Prince, either alone in the beautiful ruins of Azad or in Babylon, would be delightful.
Happy writing!
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