Dear Yuletide Writer,

[paleomnesis]

Hello, I'm psychomachia on AO3. Thank you very much for choosing one of my fandoms - I love each and every one of my faves to a ridiculous degree and I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll write! Prompts here are just suggestions - I'm pretty flexible about most things so I hope you feel free to write what makes you inspired. Happy Yuletide!

 

Also, treats are very welcome!

Etiquette - Emily Post (1922)

I've always adored etiquette books ever since I was young,especially the older ones, such as Amy Vanderbilt, or of course, Emily Post. There's just something about reading the proper way to dress for a formal ball or what should adorn a drawing room that makes you go, damn, rich people really had a lot of time on their hands back then. It's just such petty, glorious minutia and I'd love to see it applied to more situations – the stranger the better! How does one address someone who has risen from the grave and must they always proceed lest they eat Lady Devonshire's brains? Is it polite to inform the creature from Venus that they are dripping ichor upon your rug or is that simply too gauche and one must bear it with a smile? If a velociraptor is being presented to society, should one gift them with a bouquet of rosebuds tied with a ribbon or would some lamb shanks be more appropriate? 

DNWs: No on-screen animal harm (brief references to carnivore eating habits are fine), extreme underage (15+ fine), scat/watersports. 

Prompts:

Honestly, any strange AU would be great for this – robots, interstellar travel, post-apocalyptic society that still insists there's room for manners in a mutant wasteland. Given the time period, it might also be rather delightful to see a mash-up with some sort of eldritch/pulp horror as well. After all, gibbering and fainting at the sight of Great Cthulhu, while customary, is still a social faux pas  if one's body lands in a way as to expose certain bits of skin. 

What if Emily Post was a detective trying to catch a murderer out and she used the pages of her book to lay careful traps to catch them in the act? Oh, you recognize the handwriting on this formal invitation? That's strange – a similar writing was found on a burnt letter in the fireplace.  And what about being sighted in a theater box with a rather low fellow when everyone knows not to be caught dead in such a place—ah, you were caught dead there. 

Neuromancer - Russell (Screenplay 1990) <

Henry Dorsett Case (Neuromancer - Russell (Screenplay))

Wintermute (Neuromancer - Russell (Screenplay))

 

Availability: Online in multiple places, but one link here: https://thescriptsavant.com/movies/Neuromancer.pdf

 

I really do love the original book and I'm so thrilled that there's going to be a filmed adaptation of it (releasing next year, cross your fingers), because there's been so many attempts to try to get it going. One of these attempts was written back in 1990 by the same man who did Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and Dreamscape. This means that a classic cyberpunk story where a hacker is hired to reunite an AI with its twin turns into something... well, close to that at first until it goes off the rails completely at the end and basically turns into body horror with a light side of AI possession and a smidge of “okay, that's one to try to take over a guy.”  I'd love something written for this because quite frankly, the ending where Wintermute, the AI, poses as Case's dead girlfriend to have virtual sex with him in order to steal his body is just frankly insane and I adore it. 

 

DNWs: No on-screen animal harm (brief references to canonical events are fine), extreme underage (15+ fine), scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (character transformation/resurrection/body-sharing is fine). Also, please don't kill off Molly. 

 

Prompts:

 

What if Wintermute succeeded partially with Case? It would be fun to explore how the two of them would co-exist in a body that is both limited and limitless. How would Wintermute's plans change and how would it attempt to convince or coerce Case into cooperation? How would Case deal with being a new sort of creation – the adjustment process would likely be a nightmare at first?

 

Wintermute plays a longer game and doesn't immediately attempt to take over Case right away. Perhaps it bides its time at first, jumps into different systems or networks and slowly tries to manipulate Case into allowing it to take over. Psychological horror, the blurring of lines between dreams and reality, the concept of something quite literally being able to rewire you without you knowing – I'd love any or all of that? (Also, I am very into body horror, if that's something you'd like to write.)

 

The events of the screenplay were actually a test run, a simulation if you will, and Wintermute realizes that it will have to tweak its plans a bit more in order to succeed. I'd love something where it just traps Case in a loop and keeps testing it over and over, trying to get the exact combination of threat and persuasion in order to make Case give in. Maybe he comes to realize what happens, maybe he never does until the end where the curtain is pulled back and the truth of the trick finally comes into view.
 

 

Sneakers (1992) 

Cosmo (Sneakers)

Martin Bishop<

 

Availability: Apple (rent), Amazon (rent)

 

Whether you view it as jilted ex-lover or just brokenhearted best friend, it's pretty clear Cosmo's torn between being furious at Martin for his perceived abandonment and his desire to work with him again as partners. There are so many points where his plans would have worked so much better if he had just killed Martin and yet he can't even pull the trigger at the end when he's got him dead to rights. (Okay, yeah, he did tell that guy to kill his friend, but I have to believe he knew Martin would get out of it because he knows him.) I'd really like something set in the present to post-movie part – their backstory is tragic and sets up the conflict well, but I like them as older men, having to deal with perceived betrayals, double crosses, and nebulous plans.

 

DNWs: No on-screen animal harm (brief references to canonical events are fine), extreme underage (15+ fine), scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (character transformation/resurrection is fine).

 

Prompts:

 

Maybe Martin was the one that ended up in prison and Cosmo's the one on the outside until the government comes knocking at Martin's cell door and says, hey, your ex is doing nefarious things (that aren't for our benefit), so we'll let you out if you work for us. Of course, it all turns out to be a long con on Cosmo's part since you know, he really does miss Marty and he sort of owes it to him to get him out by any means necessary, whether he approves of it or not. Or maybe Martin didn't really get out of the end heist unscathed (Cosmo really did shoot him on the roof) and Cosmo took advantage of that, since it's only fair that if Martin ruin his plans, he might as well ruin Martin's plans.

 

Canonically, it seems the movie leaves a couple of big plot points dangling at the end - Cosmo's still out there with the Mafia and Martin and the gang are kind of being public with their hacking. What happens when people do the math and Martin has to go on the run from multiple people with Cosmo, who may or may not also be on the run? Are there double crosses, plans within plans, and people making cryptic and grandiose pronouncements to each other? Oh, so many.

 

So the movie is already vaguely speculative in its technology – what if we pushed that further? I feel like Sneakers is just the precursor to all those delightful cyberpunk narratives, what with the partner that returns to exact revenge, the team with its varying degrees of complementary skills, even the nebulous piece of technology that really shouldn't fall into anyone's hands because no one can be trusted with its power. Also, if it involves space ships, I wouldn't say no.

 

 

Black Mirror: Plaything 

Cameron Walker (Black Mirror)

DCI Kano (Black Mirror)

 

Availability: Netflix (subscription)

 

I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed watching this but I wasn't particularly fannish about it as I was doing so. That is, until that very last scene. I don't know why, but Peter Capaldi grinning maniacally while bending over Kano's supine form and offering him a hand just did something to me, something I will never recover from. Maybe it's the shift in power – where once Kano was the one that thought he was in control, now it's Cameron (and his friends) who show him who's truly running the show. Or maybe it's the change in emotion – from brutal violence to silence and then, a man helping another up, smiling through bloody teeth. (Also, if any of this involves Cameron showing Kano what it means to submit, I'm more than happy to read it as I definitely ship these two!)

 

DNWs: No on-screen animal harm (brief references to canonical events are fine), extreme underage (15+ fine), scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (character transformation/resurrection is fine).

 

Prompts: 

 

What else might the Thronglets decide would bring about a peaceful society? Does Cameron make his own adjustments on Kano to ensure compliance? How do people evolve when something inside them is the one puppeeting their change?  It's left ambiguous just how much of Cameron is really him by the end and how much is the Thronglets, and I'd love to read anything that explores that for both men. Does Kano have flashes where he remembers who he used to be, only to have that taken away again? 

 

Whati f Kano and Cameron met before the events of this story? I'd love something with a younger version of both of them – maybe Kano when he wasn't quite so vicious and Cameron still in the midst of figuring out how to make his master plan work. How would this change the dynamic between the two upon them meeting once more in the police station?  

>

 

 

Creepshow: The Man in the Suitcase (TV 2019) 

Justin (The Man in the Suitcase)

The Man (The Man in the Suitcase)

 

Availability: Shudder, AMC+ (subscription)

 

I loved so many of the stories within Creepshow, but I'm particularly fond of this dark gem. It's the story of a stoner college kid, Justin, who's failing out of school and unable to get money from his parents, coming back from a trip and accidentally taking the wrong suitcase (or did he?) When he opens it up at his place, it reveals a man contorted and twisted up inside, who produces coins when he's in pain. And he's in quite a bit of it, especially when Justin's ex-girlfriend and roommate enter the picture.. While the ending twist is really not that much of a twist (seriously, it's pretty well telegraphed just who the man is), it's the execution of it that makes it so great. I love how Justin progresses in the story, almost entirely losing himself to the corruption of easy money before he pulls away and does the right thing at the end. And I love that The Man bears no hard feelings for what came before, for the only thing that matters is the final test... which Justin passes.

 

DNWs: No on-screen animal harm (brief references to canonical events are fine), extreme underage (15+ fine), scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (character transformation/resurrection is fine).

 

Prompts:

 

At the end of the episode, The Man promises that whenever Justin needs him, he'll be there. Now I'm fairly sure that Justin would be justifiably wary about summoning him back into his life, so what kind of circumstance might prompt him to  do so? Perhaps he's in need of employment and The Man knows just the kind of job for an enterprising young man such as himself? Or maybe there's a family emergency years down the road and while he doesn't necessarily believe in what The Man said, it wouldn't hurt to ask?

 

I'd also love something set in between when The Man reveals his true nature and when Justin ends up in the hospital. What was he thinking as he ensured everyone earned what was coming to them and how did he arrange it so it would all fall neatly in place? 

 

 

Father Brown (2013) 

Father Brown (Father Brown TV 2013)

M. Hercule Flambeau (Father Brown TV 2013)

 

Availability: BritBox (subscription)

 

I definitely fell in love with Chesterton's works a long time ago, particularly his Father Brown stories, and while I always loved Flambeau in the stories, I never really felt the need to ship the two of them together, despite all the slashy overtones. And then I watched the series... and kept watching... and specifically rewatched the Flambeau episodes and I was hooked. It's so clear in the show that Father Brown is just as invested in Flambeau as he is in him, and it's so much fun to just see Father Brown breaking the law just so Flambeau won't get caught, while Flambeau in return just can't stay away from the good priest, especially if he needs help. The ending of the latest episode with the two of them truly had me going, “okay, so you're both willing to give up everything to save the other one” and I can just soak that kind of thing up all day.

 

DNWs: No on-screen animal harm, extreme underage, body fluids (blood is fine), focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), permanent nominated character death (transformations/resurrections are fine).

 

Prompts:

 

So I am fully caught up with the series, which means I am definitely into Flambeau using his thieving talents to steal shit back for the Vatican. Of course, he ropes Father Brown into it at one point, or maybe Father Brown gets entangled into it all on his own (as he is wont to do) and before you know it, artifacts are getting stolen (again), people are having to save each other (again), and the police really should just sit this one out and let the professionals handle it. Or you know, there's always murder. Can't go wrong with that! Could be one of those country house set-ups where there's locled rooms and people climbing out of windows (let's face it, Flambeau), or getting snowed in at some posh hotel, or maybe a murder on a train because those are always fun.

 

I'm also very intrigued by this idea that someone floated online where the roles are reversed – Flambeau as the priest, likely cynical and jaded from what he's seen in the war, who's constantly having a crisis of faith even as he ministers to his flock. Things only get more complicated when a thief announces his desire to steal a religious artifact, and Flambeau can't decide what's the most irritating – the fact that the local constabulary believe he must be involved because of his mysterious past, the village practically falling in love with the “Robin Hood” thief overnight, or that the thief seems hell-bent on restoring Flambeau's faith in God, even if he has to steal half a church to do it...

 

Also, I love horror of all sorts and I could definitely see a spooky take here. Britain is just rife with spooky old mansions out on the moors if my knowledge of old horror movies is to be believed. It would be fun to see something where Flambeau and Father Brown are invited to a crumbling old manse, replete with dark secrets, and they must rely on each other to try to survive the horrors within. Or possibly something along the lines of M.R. James or E.F. Benson – hey, if you want to even adapt one of their stories into the Father Brown universe, I'd be all for it! Maybe Flambeau runs afoul of a sorcerer and needs to get rid of a rune, or Father Brown stumbles across a strange manuscript and is haunted by a menacing figure. Just something where it's all nice and cozy, until you see something out of the corner of your eye...