Yuletide 2019

[synergic]

The Grand Paradise (The Boyfriend, the Male Hustler, The Older Sister, Any Combination)

I miss this show so much and am hoping that someone else out there did too. It was a gentle meditation on the choices we make (or defer) throughout our lives, and what might come after. No last chances, as a performer in this piece once told me.

An image that has stuck with me is the Boyfriend and the Hustler leaving hand in hand. The Boyfriend’s story, especially, felt like a beginning and not an ending, and I unabashedly want to see him open up and come into his own in a relationship he actually wants. Obviously I’m angling for BF/Hustler a bit here but if you do want to write about the Hustler by himself, and his perspective on helping people find themselves, I’d be only too happy. The mentality of the resort staff must be absolutely fascinating.

My thoughts on the Older Sister are a pretty separate thing-- these arcs don’t intersect much --so feel free to include only one or two requested characters in your fic. She struck me as a person who had never lived before she died, and yet the culmination of her arc is a moment of “letting go.” What is it that’s falling away there? Her sense of self-consciousness? Her expectations? And how easy is it, really, to continue that in this free-wheeling paradise world?

If your story incorporates any of the darker emotions or themes that are very much a part of this show, that’s fine by me. But I would prefer an overall positive, or at least a bittersweet, closing.

In addition, I am going to actively DNW direct descriptions of the main characters’ likely pre-show deaths.

DNW: Rape/Noncon, Non-Canonical Character Death, Focus on Suicidal Ideation, Alternate Universe Settings

Sleep No More (Any Characters, Any Combination)

The McKittrick Hotel is a dreamspace in real life, fluid in the way that only often-retold stories can manage. It's also one of my favorite places in the world. I’m leaving this prompt pretty wide open because part of the fun of SNM as a fandom is that the show is a framework that invites so much speculation, and I’d enjoy spending time in any character’s head. If there’s a story you want to tell, please do it. But if you’re looking for inspiration, here are some general thoughts.

I really like drawing on the sketched-in Hitchcock-ian side of things and looking at the events of the night through the lens of small-town life. What led up to the night of the Macbeth murder spree? For any character except for maybe Agnes, what’s their backstory and what was life like growing up in a cursed town? How long has Hecate had her fingers on the pulse of this place, and did anyone have meetings with her when they were younger? (This question is canonically answered for Boy and Porter, but I’d love to see it written out as a story, or to make up a non-canonical addition.) Have the witches been here all along, or are they some kind of transplant for one evening of horror?

I also enjoy speculating about the more meta side of things: how the characters perceive their audience and who is aware that they’re stuck in a looping story. Any character’s awareness (or lack thereof) being bounced off another member of the cast, and what might result from that, would be an excellent exploration.

I have special soft spots for Fulton and Agnes as our everyman characters, for Porter and Boy’s doomed relationship, for the Sexy and Bald stepping on absolutely everyone, witch/witch/witch sibling relations, and for Bargarran and/or Hecate having a little too much fun. (Also if you’re wondering whether I ship a certain combination of characters: yes.)


DNW: Rape/Noncon, Non-Canonical Character Death, Focus on Suicidal Ideation, Alternate Universe Settings

Fellow Travelers (Timothy Laughlin/Hawk Fuller, or either character separately)

This is the Opera of my heart: queer history, romance, and tragedy presented through gloriously emotional music that brings me to tears. Obligatory side note and plug: the cast recording is up on spotify and very much worth a listen.

For this request I’m fine with a story about one OR both of the main characters. I do love the clash and contrast between our leading men and wish that we’d been able to spend more time with them during the best moments of their relationship, stolen or otherwise. (I hope they made it to the movies at least once.) I love Tim’s secret spine of iron, and wish we had seen more of Hawk appreciating it-- which I think he does, based on that Christmas party.

While I’m deeply emotionally satisfied with the ending of the show, I will also say frankly that if anyone wanted to write future-fic that brought Tim and Hawk back together, I’d be all for it. I am a sap. But I would be equally happy to see Tim grow past his time in Washington and find other ways to be fulfilled.

I am aware that the book this show is based on follows the characters further, but I would prefer you not consider this canonical to the opera. If your story incorporates any of the darker emotions or themes that are very much a part of this show, that’s fine by me, but I would prefer an overall positive, or at least a bittersweet, closing.

DNW: Rape/Noncon, Non-Canonical Character Death, Focus on Suicidal Ideation, Alternate Universe Settings