majorr | Yuletide Letter 2023

Dear Author,

Happy Yuletide! I love surprises, so don’t worry if you get an idea that deviates from some of the ideas I throw out. I'll be happy to read anything you come up with, including anything Christmas themed or leaning into seasonal winter stuff and holiday festivities. Treats are welcome. Thank you so much for writing something for me!

AO3:

Major

General Likes: Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, Slow Build, UST, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort (injuries are preferred over illness), Misunderstandings, Jealousy, Vulnerability, Possessiveness, Codependency, Loyalty, Protectiveness, Get-Together or Established Relationship, 5 + 1, Storms, Canon Divergence, Stranded, Adventure, Wilderness Survival, Camping, Bed Sharing, Murder Mystery, Twenty-Four Hours to Live, Horror, Humor, Fluff, First Kiss, Hand Holding, Flirting, Trains, Bonding, Drabbles, Happy Endings

Do Not Want: PWP, Mpreg, Incest, Babies/Pregnancies, Genderswap, Non-Con, Unrequited Love, Poly, De-aging, AUs (Except Canon Divergent or When Prompted), Animal Harm/Death, Fishing/Hunting, Second Person POV

American Horror Story: Hotel
Liz Taylor, Tristan Duffy

Fandom Specific Likes: The combination of horror and true love. | Gentle softness of their relationship. | Feeling seen for the first time. | Commitment, loyalty, support, trust, love. | Reading together. | Finding new things to do in all that eternity they have. | The sweetness of their reunion after death. | Tristan’s beauty, Liz’s intelligence and seeing the opposite in each other when they don’t see it in themselves. | Not being lonely anymore. | Building something good at the Cortez. | Fluffy romance despite the darkness around them. | Angst and surviving together against a new darkness in the hotel. | Post-Canon Slice of Life | Liz & Will Drake | Liz & Iris

Note: It’s okay to talk about the coercive stuff Tristan went through with the Countess. Mentioning or reflecting on that trauma is an exception to my Non-Con DNW.

Prompts:

Liz reads an article about how a couple not touching for a full month increases intimacy, and Tristan decides he hates articles, all articles, and Liz should never read one again because they’ve never gone this long without touching since being reunited and he’s going crazy. Haha

What if a new guest or “resident” of the hotel took a shine to Liz and it wasn’t his looks but his intelligence that worried Tristan? Maybe he notices Liz laugh at jokes the man says that go straight over his head? Or he can’t keep up with conversations he overhears them having? Maybe it’s jealousy but also concern, because what if Liz would be happier with someone sharper, better educated, someone not like Tristan? (He’s crazy, she’s obsessed with him, but I love me some angst with a happy ending, lol.)

I feel like they’re so compatible and in such a good space together at the end that it does make me wonder how an argument with them would go. Does getting in a big fight affect/freak Tristan out way more than it does Liz because he’s afraid of losing the truest love he’s had, the person whose love he believes? Does it bring up any insecurities for Liz? The fight can be about anything. I think I’m most interested in the aftermath of them blowing up at each other for the first time. Emotional hurt/comfort, angst, pining while things are tense, not knowing what to do or say to fix things, regret, worry/fear of losing the other, making up: that kind of thing.

A new evil enters the hotel and is able to control and hurt ghosts. Tristan hurts Liz while possessed by it. So many interesting possible angles here: From Liz’s POV, trying unsuccessfully to get through to Tristan? From Tristan’s POV, the horror of feeling himself hurt Liz and being unable to stop himself? | Does he hit her or go full The Shining and try to kill her? | Aftermath of that trauma! The trust issues of being afraid of Tristan once the evil is out of him/not being able to tell if it’s really him or a trick. The guilt Tristan would feel even though it wasn’t his fault. I’d imagine he’d feel crushed if Liz flinched away from him, slept away from him or even in another room, avoided him, didn’t look at him the same at first. | How do they mend things/heal after that?

How do they first get to talking? Show me their meet-cute and/or their first two weeks together that we don’t get to see. Surprise at the chemistry, feeling drawn to each other, first few tentative times reaching out, being alone together and finally not feeling alone at all: the early romance of new love.

What if the Countess killed Liz instead of Tristan when she found out? How would he have reacted? Would Liz have come to him as a ghost or stayed away like he did? Would he try to contact her through a Ouija board or psychic? Pining or crippling grief would be good.

5x10 Canon Divergence - What if it was Tristan, not Iris, that intervened when Liz was fixing to kill herself? Maybe seeing her desperation/despair forces him to go back on his decision to leave her be while she’s alive. What does he do? How does he talk her out of it?

Liz gets hexed or cursed somehow, and her spirit will be cast to Hell on the next full moon. Tristan panicking as time runs out to figure out a way out of it, Liz trying to make peace with her impending doom, maybe wanting to say goodbye to Tristan and Tristan Not Having It, angst and emotional hurt/comfort: that kind of thing. Happy ending, please!

Apple “Get a Mac” Commercials
Mac, PC
A compilation of all the commercials can be watched here on YouTube.

Fandom Specific Likes: I ship them! | PC being a curmudgeon. | Mac being kind/encouraging/complimentary/optimistic/fond. | PC being competitive while Mac’s chill. | Mac just outperforming him across the board. Hahaha But not being a jerk about it. | PC freezing/glitching/needing to reboot. | Mac getting IT to help PC. | Mac being protective of PC’s feelings. | Mac being energetic and PC being slower-paced. | Mac being about fun and PC being about work. | PC’s sometimes awkward ‘hello there, fellow kids’ type of phrasing. | Mac being amused by PC’s odd behavior. | PC’s fear of spyware and viruses. | Mac and PC at couples counseling/Supportive Mac. | PC blowing things out of proportion. | Banter/Teasing/Playfulness

Prompts:

PC interprets all of Mac’s flirting as insults. It’s an obstacle.

Mac is always so easygoing and confident. What if another piece of tech tried to cozy up to PC and ruffled Mac’s feathers?

Mac gets an e-vite to a Christmas party and asks PC to be his plus-one.

I love the one where PC and Mac think back to when they were kids and still having the same conversations, lmao. So anything that brought up old memories from childhood or the longevity of their friendship would be great.

Feelings Realization - Mac considers himself a pretty laid-back guy, but something about the way Zune is constantly hitting on PC annoys TF out of him. Is PC totally oblivious to Zune’s attraction to the point that it makes Mac feel extra fond, OR is PC very aware of it and responds to it in a way that bothers Mac even more?

Mac stays with PC at the hospital after he experiences a major crash.

Do Mac and PC get along with Kindle? Are AirPod and his twin jerks? 8-track is a silver fox, isn’t he?

PC casually tells Mac that they’re going to wipe his hard drive. Mac does not respond casually. Mac panics.

Amnesia - PC has his hard drive wiped and doesn’t remember Mac. Mac is crushed and finds a way to get his memory back.

PC gets banged up by Floppy Disk, and Mac is shocked because they haven’t seen that old recluse in years.

Android AU - I’d love anything with this setup, but here are some ideas: PC’s model is getting phased out while Mac’s line is all the rage. | PC is under threat of getting shut down. | Mac doesn’t like PC to power down and charge without him. PC thinks Mac just doesn’t like to be alone, but really Mac is worried that PC’s owner/manufacturer/factory boss will put him down for good since he’s so outdated. | Mac is brought into the home where PC works, and PC doesn’t like him because he thinks he’s there to replace him. | Mac sneaks PC updates that his model isn’t allowed to have or flirts by sharing data/programs.

Being Human (US/Canada)
Aidan Waite

Fandom Specific Likes: I OTP Aidan/Sally! | I love the friendship between Aidan & Sally & Josh (& Nora), whether it’s the trio or the full squad with Nora. | Josh/Nora | Josh & Sally being epic bros. | Nora & Sally | Protective Aidan | Aidan comforting someone, using his physical strength to defend himself or the others, trying to do the right thing and atone for his past. | Sally being light and fun, supportive and determined. | Josh being a curmudgeon and looking after everyone. | The unshakable loyalty between them. | Near-death experiences | Fear for each other. | Facing off against a monster Big Bad. | Hugs | Finding humor in bleak situations. | Us-against-the-world mentality | Sally using magic and it backfiring. | Aidan & Henry’s paternal bond | Emily, Suzanna, Zoe, Nick, Stevie, Donna, Julia, Bridget, Robbie | When Aidan calls Sally ‘sweetheart’ (before or while they’re together) and ‘baby’ | Playful trash talk | Scary situations where the danger is high. | I love the perfect happy ending that the show had, but canon divergent fic where all four of them kept living at the house would also be fun. I’m cool with the fic being set whenever, during or after the show.

Note: I signed up for the Two for One mini-challenge. You can check out all of my crossover prompts over there. :)

Prompts:

Canon Divergent - Ramona didn’t stop them from moving out. What is life like for Aidan settling in at Pete’s old place?

Post-Canon - Aidan and Sally get pulled out of Heaven and thrown back to the world for one last paranormal adventure with Josh and Nora. Is it a normal monster problem? Is it an apocalypse situation where they got summoned (?) back to Earth because it’s going to take all hands on deck to save the whole world this time around? How different is it to Aidan to be back and trying to help as a ghost instead of a vampire? What is the temporary reunion with Josh and Nora like? Are any other dead people brought back to help?

Alien Invasion - Whether it’s a global thing, horror survival, walking out of the house and seeing a giant ship in the sky, or a quieter more personal encounter with a UFO, I’d love to see Aidan and the others grappling with the idea that there’s not just monsters but aliens now too. How does Aidan react to the news report (or firsthand encounter)? Does Josh freak out thinking the aliens will want to abduct werewolves to figure out why they’re different from other humans? Does Sally spin out, afraid that they’ll all get abducted and she’ll be left haunting Earth alone? Is Nora scared or fascinated or inexplicably calm?

Magical Switch - A spell or curse or backfiring magic makes them all switch what they are for a night: Aidan is a werewolf, Sally is a vampire, and Josh is a ghost.

Soulmate Apocalypse AU - Anyone who isn't with their soulmate by midnight on a certain day will vanish/die. I don’t care if this is a prophecy or something scientific or what. I’m mostly interested in stuff like Aidan needing to say goodbye to his friends because he figures he doesn’t have a soulmate to get to, making sure Josh and Nora are together, having feelings realization when midnight comes and he doesn’t die/vanish because, oh hey yeah, Sally’s his soulmate, that kind of thing.

Trapped in an Elevator - When you have super strength, how long does it take to run out of patience and start breaking the thing to try to get out? I love when this trope is used to explore conflict between characters and forces them to confront their issues, hash things out, and find resolution. Is the elevator spelled in some way to prevent Sally from leaving, or is this when she has her body? Is this before or after the point where Josh can transform at will; is he tempted to wolf out to escape the elevator if he really doesn’t want to deal with the argument they’re having? Is this when tension and distrust is high between Aidan and Nora?

Aidan really vulnerable. What if Bishop (or anybody with a grudge) hired a witch to force Sally (and Josh?) to live through dozens of Aidan’s acts of violence/murder over his long life (sort of like when Sally saw Aidan killing when she time traveled to the ’20s, but more like a reel of them), and Aidan expects rejection/revulsion and is surprised/emotional to receive acceptance, forgiveness, and love instead? Maybe after some initial shock/horror.

Sally gets turned into a vampire while she has her body back, and Aidan has to help her through it. I would prefer if this was the result of an attack and not something Aidan did to her. Maybe it was done to her deliberately to hurt Aidan?

Crossover with the Insidious movies. Aidan (and Sally? and Josh?) go to the Further? Or they need ghost help from Elise? I love Elise, especially in take-charge, handling-business mode! I also think it would be hilarious to see Aidan have to put up with Tucker and Specs. Lol Do one or both of them hit on Sally, and he shuts that down hard? Has Elise ever encountered a vampire or a werewolf before?

Any kind of supernatural trouble: paranormal quicksand appears in the floor of the house and sucks him/them down, a scarecrow comes to life, possessed doll, anything involving a mummy (or one of them teasing Aidan about his resemblance to the ancient mummy), evil carnival/circus/clowns, a magical doggy door appears at the back door and a warlock comes through it (as a talking cat), a Goosebumps-style Polaroid camera that kills people if their picture is taken (what effect would that have on Sally, nothing? would she turn up in the picture?), playing a board game that turns out to be evil and has real-life consequences to losing. Any kind of creepy or paranormal drama would be fun!