LJ McKay's Journal

Dear Yuletide Author,

First of all, thank you so much for writing for me. Yuletide is one of my favorite times of year, both for seeing all the wonderful writing that comes out of the woodwork and for giving me a reason to keep writing myself. And for celebrating the fandoms that we both have in common! So rest assured that I will love whatever you write, and NONE of these prompts are intended to be binding requests but merely to give you ideas if you are struggling.

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Fandom Specifics:
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Dear Yuletide Author,

First of all, thank you so much for writing for me. Yuletide is one of my favorite times of year, both for seeing all the wonderful writing that comes out of the woodwork and for giving me a reason to keep writing myself. And for celebrating the fandoms that we both have in common! So rest assured that I will love whatever you write, and NONE of these prompts are intended to be binding requests but merely to give you ideas if you are struggling.

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Fandom Specifics:
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Dear Yuletide Author,

First of all, thank you so much for writing for me. Yuletide is one of my favorite times of year, both for seeing all the wonderful writing that comes out of the woodwork and for giving me a reason to keep writing myself. And for celebrating the fandoms that we both have in common! So rest assured that I will love whatever you write--but if you would like a little more guidance, read on.

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Fandom Specifics:
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Dear Yuletide Author,

First of all, thank you so much for writing for me. Yuletide is one of my favorite times of year, both for seeing all the wonderful writing that comes out of the woodwork and for giving me a reason to keep writing myself. And for celebrating the fandoms that we both have in common! So rest assured that I will love whatever you write--but if you would like a little more guidance, read on.

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Fandom Specifics:
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Dear Yuletide Author,

First of all, thank you so much for writing for me. Yuletide is one of my favorite times of year, both for seeing all the wonderful writing that comes out of the woodwork and for giving me a reason to keep writing myself. And for celebrating the fandoms that we both have in common! So rest assured that I will love whatever you write--but if you would like a little more guidance, read on.

General things I like:

Strong male friendships
Complex characterization (seemingly "evil" characters having reasonable motivations, "good" characters being petty or morally ambiguous sometimes)
Strong adherence to canon (stories that feel like "missing scenes" or logical developments/precedents)
Tone adherence to canon
Body swapping
Time travel
"Ripple Effect"/parallel universe AUs (what if so-and-so had made a different choice?)
*some* setting/genre AUs, but only if done very very well
Crossovers
Emotional vulnerability

Do Not Want:

RP shipping
Character bashing
Original Characters
"AU" as an excuse for essentially original characters with familiar names


Facts.
Characters: Davey Reilly, George Fox

If anyone actually writes this, I will be so shocked and also die of happiness. Everyone should watch Facts. and know how wonderful all my Irish boys (and girls) are. Davey and George are my absolute favorites, but I was the nominator and I did also nominate Jamie and Tom, so feel free to include them (or Ryan, Donal, John, Dermot...really any of the others. If you squeeze in a James cameo related to his evolving crush on and disillusionment with Davey, I would be very very okay with that. :D) What I love about Davey: his courage in doing all the food/body things; his wordplay; his ever-changing hair; his disdain for gender norms; his love of RuPaul & Game of Thrones; and his friendship with George. What I love about George: his friendship with Davey; his goofy positivity; his winking sarcasm; his fannishness; his sense of humor.

Gen, please!

The Thick of It
Characters: Malcolm

Just...Malcolm. Anything with Malcolm. Maybe Malcolm on current British politics (Brexit, snap election, etc)? If his heart could survive it. ;)

British Comedy RPF
Characters: David Mitchell, Lee Mack

What I would adore from this is some sort of Would I Lie to You? fic, whether that's a whole missing episode (fave guests not in tagset include: Greg Davies, Bob Mortimer, Rhod Gilbert, Dara O Briain, Jack Whitehall, Hugh Dennis), or a behind-the-scenes snapshot, or a social gathering (Rob not invited, naturally, but perhaps he turns up), or a scenario where David has to either help Lee or ask Lee for help (reluctantly as hell, of course).

Gen, please!

Dalemark Quartet
Characters: Navis Haddsson

Anything you can contribute to the far-too-tiny Navis fandom is fine by me. I love his pragmatism and efficiency, his struggle as a single dad, his peevishness, and his always-surprising affection for a few people in his life. I would love to see how he managed to grow up a decent human being when his father and his brothers were so awful. Or something from Hildy's early years, before his wife died. Or Duke of Kernsburgh stuff. Or Undying!Navis?! (He would be so annoyed.) The fandom lends itself to bittersweetness and I'm okay with that.

The Left Hand of Darkness
Characters: Genly, Estraven

Missing scenes from the Ice? A dream sequence where they do "meet once more as aliens," and the fallout from that? Genly talking to/bonding with Estraven's child?

Dear Yuletide Author,

First of all, thank you so much for writing for me. This is my first Yuletide and I am excited to finally be participating in something I've enjoyed observing for so long.

As those of us who are fans of small fandoms know, it's hard to be picky when it comes to your fic. And as a friend of mine says, "If you love the canon and you love writing your story, I will probably love it." That said, if you're looking for more guidance, see below.

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HI EVERYONE! Once again, I haven't died or anything in the however long since I've posted. I've been lurking.

But a lot has happened, so I thought I'd take the time for a quick update. :)

First: First year of grad school, CHECK! It had its ups and downs, but the second semester was way better than first, so I'm generally on an up note right now. :) We'll see how that lasts once I actually start working on finishing my thesis.

Second: New house! My roommate and I moved at the beginning of June to a new townhouse/condo/apartment/I don't know the fine distinctions between these things. We love it!!

Third: New phone! Thanks to some generosity on my dad's part (he is letting me "use" his free upgrade from the phone company, since he doesn't need it), I now have a Samsung Galaxy S3. I am really enjoying having a smartphone, though I am trying to limit myself and not turn into one of "those people." (Turned off facebook notifications, and once my summer program is over I will probably turn off email notifications as well.)

Fourth: NEW CAR!! Well, not "new," exactly. My old one was having some increasingly frightening transmission issues, as well as starter/alternator problems that made it pretty uncertain if it would start each morning, so I started shopping. After getting fed up with craigslist, I found a 2000 Camry with 108k miles at a dealer, and it was actually in my price range! So I'm pretty pleased about that, though I am trying to decide on a name. You can help! Rory (as in Doctor Who) or Nymeria (as in Game of Thrones)? My friends so far are split pretty evenly.

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It's the biannual check-in! ;D

Grad school goes well! It's kind of super intimidating but I'm getting into the swing of things. :) I love my job. I am playing Quidditch. I have friends! Life is good. :)

From isweedan

Comment and I will ...
1. Tell you why I friended you. If I remember.
2. Associate you with something.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Associate you with a character/pairing.
6. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
7. Tell you my favourite userpic of yours.
8. Tell you that you must post this in your own journal.

So I've finally -- thanks, isweedan -- gotten into "Sherlock". I think I can hear some of you saying "It's about time!" It is awesome and amazing and I love it.

I also got a vid bunny that I don't really have the motivation to do (because I don't think I could do it justice, really) but would love to see made if anyone is so inclined...

Sherlock-Moriarty (possibly a kind of one-sided Moriarty/Sherlock?) to "Wild" by Poe...I mean, with lines like, "Yeah well we both know you don't play fair" and "You're not the only one who lives on instincts/No I've got instincts of my own" and "You wrote the rules to try to contain me/You broke 'em", how could I not?

The facts:

I would really like to own a set of Spooks DVDs.

There is an (almost) complete set for sale on eBay for $169 (this is $18.89 per season, which is better than they usually go for).

I am torn because the last DVD box sets I got, I didn't really end up watching much and I don't want to waste money.

I am anticipating a tax refund of about $300...

The request:

Help!

Talk me into it, talk me out of it...I am seeking input. :)