merle_p

Dear Writer,
I took a break from Yuletide for the past couple of years and am excited to finally be back. Thank you so much for writing something about my favorite characters in one of my tiny, tiny fandoms! I really appreciate you taking on one of my prompts, and hope you also have a little bit of fun writing for me!

My AO3 name is also merle_p. I am not really on LJ anymore (aside from the DYW letter) so this journal hasn't really been updated in a while. AO3 is where I hang out these days for the most part.

GENERAL LIKES:
My likes are meant to be a pick-and-choose grab bag – take what you enjoy writing and leave the rest. Definitely don’t feel pressured to squeeze the maximum number of likes into my gift fic if they don’t align with your interests and writing style. These are all things I enjoy equally, so I’ll be thrilled to receive fic that includes any one or two things from the list below.

( Plot/character-relatedCollapse )
( Ship/Friendship-relatedCollapse )
( Sex-relatedCollapse )

GENERAL DNWs:

• Devastating endings or hopelessly unrequited love


• Character bashing


• A/B/O-verse, Dom/Sub-verse, soulmate-verse


• Mundane AUs (coffeeshop, highschool/college AUs, and similar scenarios)


• Genderswap, bodyswap, trans or ace headcanons, mpreg


• Infantilism kink, Mommy/Daddy kink


• Eating disorders, cutting as self-harm


• “Shovel talks” (so, please no “They’ll never find your body if you hurt my friend/kid” conversations)


• Kid!fic (I don’t mind kids appearing or being discussed in the story, especially canonical ones; but would prefer not to receive accidentally acquired babies, children playing matchmaker, or stories written from the perspective of a child who is not a requested character)


• Violence played for laughs (I don’t have a problem with violence in fic at all, make it as messy/gruesome as you like, but I’m not a fan of unnecessary/excessive violence being treated as a joke)

FANDOMS/CHARACTERS/PROMPTS:
I sorted the fandoms alphabetically, so no reason to read anything into the order. I love these all equally and am desperate for more (any!!!) fic in either of these fandoms.

( Fandom: BurntCollapse )

( Fandom: Dogs of BerlinCollapse )

( Fandom: Los EspookysCollapse )

( Fandom: The HalcyonCollapse )

( Fandom: The WalkCollapse )

( Fandom: TolkienCollapse )

Dear Writer:

It seems that lately, I have been participating in so many fic exchanges that I think it makes sense to have a general post talking about my likes and dislikes in fanfiction. If you have been assigned to me, thank you so much for taking up the challenge and writing for me! Please take the following as a list of suggestions meant to help inspire you, rather than as restrictions or demands.

( Onto the preferences and DNWsCollapse )

Here are the first two installments of my "8 Sensations" series, a series of stories that explores different sensations and character constellations in the Sense8 universe:

1. Compassion:
epistolary (Amanita/Nomi, Cluster, PG-13)
It isn’t until Amanita says, out of the blue, over the rim of her chai latte, “Would you mind telling Kala that I really liked the book she recommended?”, that Nomi realizes it’s so much more than that. Her girlfriend is not simply accepting the existence of other people’s voices in her head – she is actually conversing with them.

2. Desire:
al mal tiempo, buena cara (Will/Wolfgang, Lito/Hernando, R)
“Jesus,” Will says. He is pacing the room, rubbing a distracted hand across his face. His cheeks are flushed, there is sweat pooling in the back of his neck, and he can’t even blame the Mexican heat for that, since the A/C in the apartment is working just fine.
Wolfgang looks up from his phone with a smirk. “They are at it again, aren’t they.” It’s not a question.

Dearest Shipswap Creator!

Thank you so much for offering to write a story for me/create a drawing for me! I’m already so excited and grateful, and I’m sure I’ll love whatever you come with! I hope you will find the following comments useful rather than limiting – they are supposed to make things easier for you, not harder, and my likes/dislikes/prompts are all meant to be suggestions and ideas rather than demands or restrictions.

Broadly speaking, I am not easily squicked, I don’t really have any triggers, and I’m generally curious about things that are outside my usual reading/writing/viewing habits, so don’t worry too much if you have an idea you are not certain about – I will in all likelihood enjoy it!

That being said, there is a fairly short list of things I usually prefer not to read in fic/see in fanart (or only under very specific circumstances that I find difficult to describe): see my DNWs below. But seriously, as long as you steer clear of those, you really can’t go wrong!

( General Likes and DislikesCollapse )

( Fandoms/PromptsCollapse )

Happy New Year, everyone!

I wrote two MFU fics for two different winter exchanges:

For brodinsons in Yuletide, I wrote an Illya/Napoleon story that I think might actually count as casefic:
Two Men, Crossing the Street
Illya/Napoleon, PG-13 to R
“They are useless to their countries,” he says slowly. “Everyone knows their real names, their faces. A spy who cannot spy. Is like – like a car that cannot drive. Useless.”
“Ah,” Napoleon says quietly, as if he finally understands what Illya is so angry about. But he doesn’t, Illya thinks, he can’t know, not really, and he isn’t sure if it’s sadness or relief he feels at the thought.


For HelenaKey in The Down the Chimney Affair 2015, I wrote my first Illya/Gaby fic, although it's more friendship fic with background romance, I think:
From Moscow, with Clove
Illya/Gaby, Illya&Napoleon, PG-13
“Of course,” Illya shrugs and drinks again. “The Russians invented it.”

I wanted to get my recs out before reveals, so here they are. Overall, Yuletide has felt ... smaller, somehow, this year, in terms of what I felt like reading, I don't know why. But out of the stories I did read, some true gems stood out that I'm sure I'll be rereading many many times:

( 7 Yuletide Recs:Collapse )

I can't even think of who on my flist is in/from France - _profiterole_, you are the only one I can think of right now ... but if you or anyone you know is in Paris right now, I hope you are okay and I'm thinking of you.

This has been such awful news tonight.

Dearest Yuletide Writer!

I’m so excited, you are going to write a story for me, thank you so much! I hope you will find the following comments useful rather than limiting – they are supposed to make things easier for you, not harder, and my likes/dislikes/prompts are all meant to be suggestions and ideas rather than demands or restrictions.

Broadly speaking, I am not easily squicked, I don’t really have any triggers, and I’m generally curious about things that are outside my usual reading and/or writing habits, so don’t worry too much if there’s something you would like to write, but you are not certain about – I will in all likelihood enjoy it!

That being said, there is a fairly short list of things I usually prefer not to read in fic (or only under very specific circumstances that I find difficult to describe): see my DNWs below. But seriously, as long as you steer clear of those, you really can’t go wrong!


GENERAL LIKES:
Plot/character-related:
- Dialogue/banter
- Specificity of location and time (things that are typical for the place/era the story takes place in)
- Sidekick/underappreciated characters being appreciated
- Competent people who are good at what they do without being super-human
- Dark fluff, angsty schmoop, fluffy dark fic (in other words, I like my angst with a heavy dose of hope and my romance with a bit of a gritty undercurrent)
- A bit of angst/drama followed by realistically happy/hopeful ending
- People from different (social, national, political…) backgrounds being confronted with each other’s perspective on the world
- Alternate canon AUs (that is, AUs with only a slight/singular divergence from canon)

Romance/Friendship-related:
- Get together/first times
- Friends-to-lovers
- Friendships of all kinds (with a soft spot for male/female friendship)
- Pining and/or mild jealousy (which gets resolved in the end)
- People taking care of each other
- People connecting with someone unexpected
- People working well together as a team

Sex/porn-related:
- Passionate/rough sex
- Messy/Sloppy sex
- Porn with Feelings
- Slight choking as sexual kink (but please not to the point of passing out/being seriously dangerous!)
- Size-difference / Size-kink (both in terms of body height, and in terms of, uhm, specific appendages, primarily hands and cocks)

DO NOT WANTS: Devastating ending, major non-canonical character death, character bashing, A/B/O-verse, Dom/Sub-verse (where everyone's a natural dom or sub), soulmate-verse, genderswap, bodyswap, mpreg, hopelessly unrequited love, infantilism (as a sexual kink/practice), eating disorders, cutting as a ritualized form of self-harm, kid!fic (original child character in a prominent role), violence played for laughs (I don’t have a problem with violence in fic at all, make it a messy/gruesome as you like, but I’m not a fan of unnecessary/excessive violence being treated as a joke).

THE FANDOMS/PROMPTS:
The Americans (TV), Do Começo ao Fim/From Beginning to End (Movie), Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho/The Way He Looks (Movie), Richard Jury Mysteries (Novels), Masters of Sex (TV), Dear White People (Movie)

Equally true for all of these: I love them all. I know I’m asking for six fandoms, but seriously, I’m equally excited about all of them. Even if the description/list of prompts for one or the other fandom might be shorter, it’s certainly not for lack of enthusiasm. Also: Any additional characters you feel like throwing in there, please knock yourself out! The more, the merrier. The prompts are certainly things I’d be happy to read, but please feel free to treat them simply as examples of what I like – you don’t have to stick to them if you have a good idea of your own!

( The Americans (TV)Collapse )

( Do Começo ao Fim/From Beginning to End (Movie 2009)Collapse )

( Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho/The Way He Looks (Movie 2014)Collapse )

( Richard Jury - Martha Grimes (Books)Collapse )

( Masters of Sex (TV)Collapse )

( Dear White People (Movie 2014)Collapse )

Author: Merle
Rating: NC-17
Characters/Pairings: Illya/Napoleon
Word Count: 2506
Spoilers: Slight spoilers for the movie.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Sadly.
Tags/Warnings: Porn with Feelings, Angsty Schmoop, Smut, Flashbacks, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Fisting, I Don't Even Know, We-Almost-Died Sex, Unorthodox Coping Mechanisms, Illya's Hands
A/N: So. This is *not* what I usually write. In more than one way. I would apologize, but I'm not entirely sure what for. Please read the tags/warnings before proceeding.
Summary:
“Are you with me, cowboy?” Illya asks, and his accent is heavy, thick, but his voice is steady and calm, not betraying any of the shakiness that has Napoleon shivering and twitching as if any second he’s going to come out of his skin.
“Nrgh,” he makes, voice muffled by the pillow, and he is glad, because even he doesn’t know if he meant that to be “yes,” or “no,” or “oh god please.”

Fist over Heart @ AO3