sailor | say yer fond of me lobster

Dear Yuletide Author,

Hello and thank you so much for writing for me!! ♥ You're a gem, and I'm so excited to read what you end up writing.

My AO3 is strikerbacks (formerly brampersandon), where you can see what I've written/received in past Yuletides or peruse my bookmarks for more of an idea of what I read on the regular.

In general, I'm not picky at all and am super easy to please, so no need to stress over anything. I do have my general likes/dislikes which are applicable across the board, and I've included potential prompts for each fandom, but please don't feel like you need to adhere to those prompts if they don't spark anything for you. I'm much happier reading a story that you wanted to write and enjoyed writing. If you're having fun, I'm having fun!

Things I Love

Found families and team dynamics — especially in a group of unlikely characters who may not always get along but absolutely do love each other

Intense relationships — you and me against the world (even in small, mundane ways — two characters finding an understanding in each other that they can't find in anyone else), mentor/mentee relationships (platonic or shippy), codependency/loyalty kink, the friends to lovers trope, pining (seemingly unrequited or actually unrequited)

Character studies — whether it's introspection or a study of how the character relates to their world/the other characters around them, anything that delves deeper into what makes a character tick is my jam

Reunions — possibly my biggest weakness in any narrative, I love characters coming back together, realizing what they missed (or didn't) about one another, distance being forced between them OR deliberately chosen by one or both, reunions that don’t go well, everything about it really

AUs of almost all kinds (exceptions below) — I have a special fondness for anything involving robots, ghosts, reincarnation, soulmates (including identifying marks/soulbonds/etc.), telepathy (touch or otherwise), space, theatre/film, mundane professions, etc.

Banter/lots of dialogue, 5 things fics, non-linear narratives, starting fic in medias res, exposition and world-building

Domesticity — more in terms of the concept of home than in the minutiae of actual home-making, I love characters working to settle in and feel at home in unfamiliar environments, missing home, finding homes in unconventional places (or people!), etc.

Porn with plot — some things I enjoy reading are age difference, breathplay, dubcon, edging, over-stimulation, begging, praise kink, lots of talking, frottage, size difference, voyeurism, role reversals, rough sex, dom/sub dynamics, light (not overly-negotiated) bondage, characters discovering things they didn't know they were into

Do Not Wants

Kidfic — characters being aged down into children or adult characters somehow acquiring children

Issuefic

Scenes of rape or self-harm

A/B/O, hard kink (petplay/lifestyle BDSM/scat/guro/watersports/etc.)

PWP — I love porn, but I prefer for it to be part of the bigger picture rather than the sole focus

Some AUs — genderswap, werewolves/vampires/other mythical creatures, royalty/regency

Dead Poets Society
Charlie Dalton

This film truly is my forever girl. I wore out my first VHS of it as a kid, then my first DVD, and ended up with like… four copies, just in case. It's been so important to me for so long. And I love that every year, a new group of high school English students gets introduced to it. The fandom that never dies and never will because teachers want to take a break for a couple hours on a rainy day!

Charlie has always been my favorite Dead Poet. He plays like he's too cool to care about anything, but the reality is that he cares so much. He's passionate to a fault, he's hot-headed, he's got grand ambitions and a vision for himself far outside the walls of Welton. I love that about him. One of the best things about DPS to me is the potential to explore the characters — while the movie focuses on Neil and Todd, it gives glimpses of these other boys who are just as complex, but doesn't go too deep into their inner workings. So I've always loved reading fic that takes that plunge for the rest of the characters and fleshes them out. Plus, who doesn't love an all boys boarding school aesthetic? Those sweater vests changed me. Also, I'm a gigantic poetry nerd, so if you are too you can absolutely feel free to lean into that as much as you want — take inspiration from a poem (personally, The Acts of Youth has always been my favorite for Charlie Vibes) or interweave it or do whatever you want, I'm super down!

But more to the point — I've always found Charlie the character most rife with potential for expansion, and I'll truly read anything about him because of that. I love everyone's different takes on his character, his past, his future. At the end of the day… I really just want more Charlie fic, and I'm not picky about what form it takes. Nearly two decades of writing and reading about him and I still want to uncover more.

Potential Prompts:

Honestly, straight up Charlie character study is my absolute jam. He's always been the most fascinating character to me, and the one I gravitated to immediately even when I first saw the film as a kid. There's a lot going on with him and the movie only scratches the surface. What first sparked his rebellious streak? What's his home life like? Before he was Nuwanda at Welton, he was Charlie at home — what about the way he was raised made him the way he is? Has he always been that cocksure and confident? How does he view his relationship with the rest of the Dead Poets — even with Neil very much as their figurehead, Charlie is still the one with the attitude of a ringleader. He's so fiery and driven that it makes him self-destructive, making scenes and lashing out and fighting too hard for what he believes in to the point that it screws him over, but he gets up and does it all again. Who is he in private, with the people he trusts most, when he doesn't have to puff his chest out and act like nothing can faze him? Man, just go wild with it if the inner workings of Charlie Dalton strike your fancy. I'd love to read your take on him.

Charlie's future after the end of the movie is very up in the air. One time Gale Hansen said that he pictures charlie stealing his dad's car and joining the Beats, which I find hilarious. Sure, why not! I'd love any peek into what Charlie's future could be, and it definitely doesn't have to be as idealistic as that. Maybe he does run away from his family and strike out on his own — but maybe he does as he's told, goes to college to become a banker. Maybe the rebellious instinct never fully gets beat out of him and he does it again later in life, when he's a little smarter, a little less impulsive, with a little more power over his own life. Where does he go? New York, San Francisco, Paris? Or does he stay put in New England? Does he reconnect with the boys later on? Does he keep writing? Epistolary of letters between him and one of the other Dead Poets post-movie could be super cool! And as far as future fic goes, I'm equally fond of fix-it where Neil lives or canon that leans into the unhappy ending. Either way, I'd love to see Charlie's diverting future from that point. He deserves a life larger than that.

If you'd prefer to write something shippy, I'm game! I love Charlie/Neil and Charlie/Knox (or Neil/Charlie/Knox honestly) equally, those are my forever ships. I could also be veeeery into Keating/Charlie if that dynamic floats your boat. I'm not a huge fan of any of the other boys being shipped with Charlie though. I'm also cool with these coexisting — for example, if you'd like to write mostly character study but want to interweave one or more ships throughout, that's awesome! At the end of the day, to me, Charlie feels his feelings extremely intensely — whether they're about rebellion, poetry, or another person. I'd love Charlie realizing he's got feelings for someone else at Welton and having to deal with that, pre-canon or set within the timeline of the movie. He, Neil and Knox have clearly been bonded for years. How did Charlie get so close to them? Did a pair of them room at one point? The emotional clumsiness and schoolboy pining of it all really appeals to me. Plus, Charlie literally said the Dead Poets have a spirit of "passionate experimentation" and booooy do I love dumbass 1950s teens experimenting with each other. Does it have to end well? Not necessarily! There's a lot of 50s baggage there. Of course I love if everyone is queer and happy about it, but you can feel free to lean into the time period if you want. And as far as Keating/Charlie goes, if you're into that, I'm all for hero worship turning into messy feelings. Even something as simple as snippets of Charlie's meetings with Keating over the years (because that scene where Neil has a meeting in his office has always made me think of the other boys doing the same) and bonding with him on a more personal level than student/teacher would be sweet. That was a long way of saying that those three ships are totally fair game if you'd rather write something more shippy than gen! Basically, I just love Charlie Dalton and want to see practically anything more about him.

The Lighthouse (2019)
Ephraim Winslow, Thomas Wake

(inarticulate seagull noises)

I rushed to see this movie before signing up because I knew it'd be right up my alley, and somehow it ended up being even more than I bargained for. I LOVE THIS MOVIE. I'm still processing it for sure — sometimes I just stare up at the ceiling and think about the inexplicable tentacles — but I loved it.

First of all, the setting! Nautical themes are my JAM. The solitude of lighthouse keepers, especially in conditions like theirs, creates circumstances that few other settings would. The oppressive isolation really appeals to me — the rocks, the sea, the lighthouse and them. Nothing more. It's no wonder Tom's as mad as he is. And it's no wonder that when Ephraim comes along, it barely takes any time at all for their relationship to become a snarling fucked up thing. WHICH IS ALSO EXTREMELY MY JAM.

I love characters who aren't good for each other but are still drawn to each other. Granted, Tom and Ephraim don't have anyone else they can be drawn to — but I like that too, the inevitability of it all. From the very beginning, nothing about their relationship is healthy. The way Tom treats Ephraim when he thinks he's just a useless young wickie in training is reprehensible, and once they begin to open up to one another, the way they do is even worse. AND. I. LOVE. IT. Give me alllllllllll the horrific, destructive, codependent ties that bind them. You can lean into it as hard as you'd like because their entire dynamic is right up my alley.

Potential Prompts:

That period of time after Ephraim and Tom have become friendlier with each other and opened up a bit, but before Ephraim spills his beans and goes fully unhinged? I live in that part of the movie. The quick cut scenes of them alternately dancing, singing, fighting, yelling and cuddling killed me. THE ALMOST KISS? OH MY GOD. At the risk of repeating myself, I just love what fucked up messes they both are and how harshly it's exacerbated when they're together. A fic expanding on that time — or even just delving more into one of those quick scenes we saw — would be absolutely incredible. I admit that the back-and-forth between raging aggression and desperate softness reeeeally appeals to me, so a good mix of that would be lovely. Little snatches of tenderness amidst their roiling, codependent madness.

Okay but what was up with the sirens and merfolk? Ephraim's not the first person to have those experiences, according to Tom's recounting of his last second. Has Tom seen them too? And then that got me thinking about the nature of the island itself. It could be really easy to inject some magical realism into it, what with the aforementioned sirens/merfolk, but also Tom's relationship to the island. The gulls don't bother him, they only bother Ephraim. He doesn't seem to believe in the merfolk, but he could be lying and gaslighting Ephraim like usual, or he could have a copacetic relationship with them, or they could have driven him mad long ago. He has superstitions about so many things. He clearly has A Relationship with the lighthouse. AND WHAT WAS IN THE LIGHT ANYWAY? I like the idea of Tom's relationship with the craggy little island as a whole, all its mythology and madness, and I think it could be super fun to explore. Basically, if you wanna get weird and metaphysical with it, feel free! I'm very into that!!

Canon divergence and AU elements could be really fun here. What if Ephraim doesn't die and instead stays on the island to become a mad old keeper like Tom was? What if Tom's ghost haunts him? What if they were rescued in the end, and despite it all, Ephraim doesn't find returning to the real world and starting fresh again as easy as he did before and returns to Tom? Or any other kind of alternate ending you can think of, really, I'd be down for exploring the characters and their relationship in any situation.

If you feel like writing smut, LET YOUR ID RUN WILD. The PWP DNW doesn't apply here since, like... the plot of the movie is tenuous at best anyway, so I'm totally down for PWP. All of my smut likes above are fair game! The only thing I will stipulate is that while I do like dom/sub dynamics, I'm not into it to the extent that movie takes it at the end. Leashes and making them act like dogs? No thank you, I'm good. But Tom domming the hell out of Ephraim and Ephraim being disgusted with himself for how much he needs it? Dubious drunken handjobs on the floor between their beds? Ephraim turning the tables and taking control? All of the above and more? Totally into it. Go crazy. :')

Misfits (TV 2009)
Nathan Young

Misfits is one of my all time favorite shows, and Nathan is one of my all time favorite characters. What a shame the show had to end after his final episode, right?

I'll be honest and admit that my character type 99% of the time is Obnoxious Asshole With A Heart Of Gold. And there's no truer example of that than Nathan Young. I loved him from the jump, when all we knew about him was that he was a foul-mouthed young offender who couldn't give a shit what anyone thinks of him or what he does — and I loved him even more as his story unfolded and we got to see what his bluster covers up and how vulnerable he can be. Added bonus: I love immortal characters and medium characters! Surprise! HE'S A BLACKOUT ON MY BINGO CARD.

One of my favorite things about Misfits is the lore of how the ASBO 5's original powers relate to their personalities and insecurities. On the surface, Nathan fears nothing and hasn't a care in the world. But he's utterly terrified of being rejected and left alone, which has happened to him time and time again — some of it outside of his control (his father leaving him, his half-brother dying) and some of it completely his fault (his mother kicking him out, not having any true mates to rely on). The fact that he's immortal and everyone will eventually leave him behind works perfectly for his character. I'm not so much interested in "Nathan's really sad and lonely deep down and everything else is just bluff" because I do think there's a ton of genuine honesty to Nathan's personality — moreso, I'm interested in the way his fear of abandonment impacts how he interacts with the world, the other characters, and his own power. How he adapts, how he lives— forever.

Potential Prompts:

Let's ignore the Vegas special ever happened and pretend Nathan kept his immortality and medium powers! He's got a long, loooong life ahead of him. What does his future hold? Does he eventually put his powers to good use, or does he fuck off and join the circus to routinely shoot himself in the head? Does he manage to build any lasting relationships with the rest of the ASBO 5, and how does that go as they grow up and he very much doesn't? I love all possible futures for Nathan and would be so happy to read your take on where life takes him, as short-term or as long-term (long, long, decades long term even!) as you'd like. Also, his medium powers! EXTREMELY MY JAM!! They were secondary to immortality so the show didn't explore them much, and I'd love any fic that did. Why does he see the ghosts? Is he part of helping them move on somehow (if so, those poor ghosts) or are they able to come back and haunt him later? Can he learn to harness that power and do more weird ghosty shit, like summon them at will or use them for intel? BUILD A GHOST ARMY? I don't know man, I just feel like the show barely even scratched the surface on how he deals with being able to see spirits and I want mooooore.

Nathan's family relations, especially to his half-brother Jamie, have always had a special place in my heart. His dad left him, he's got a strained relationship with his mum, and in the span of one episode he finds out he has a half-brother and watches him die. I always thought that episode showed a lot about Nathan — he said he always wanted a little brother and was immediately bonded to Jamie despite the fact that they just met. He desperately wanted to help him out and do better for him than his dad did for either of them. His line I can fix it, how do I fix it? after he finds out Jamie died has always killed me. HE REALLY LOVED HIS BROTHER!! If you want to explore more of that, I'd adore it — more snatches of their brief time together, or any bonding time with Jamie's ghost after, or fix-it where Jamie somehow lives and they get to keep navigating their fucked up world together. Jamie has to learn he's immortal eventually! And maybe Jamie gets a power too! Who knows!! I'd love it all.

Obviously while Nathan's my favorite, I love the rest of the ASBO 5 so much it hurts. They're a truly terrible group and they absolutely deserve each other because of it. I love that group dynamic, where they don't always like each other and don't always cooperate well, but they really were all meant to find each other in some messed up way. Nathan's dynamics with all four of them make me so giddy, so you can make it an ensemble fic if you'd like or focus on any combination of them. As far as shipping goes, if you would prefer to write something shippy, I'd honestly read any of the four of them with Nathan — obviously Nathan/Simon and Nathan/Kelly are the big ones and the ones that make the most sense, but you could sell me on Nathan/Alisha or Nathan/Curtis just as easily. Or a big poly clusterfuck of messy feelings and accidental murder. Whatever your heart desires, go for it!

And that about wraps it up! Again, thank you so much. I can't wait to read what you write and inevitably gush all over it.

Have a wonderful Yuletide season!!

♥ Caitlin