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Yuletide letter
Dear Yuletide Writer,
we share at least one fandom, which is great, and I'm really grateful you take the time and trouble to write a story for me. All the prompts are just suggestions; if you have very different ideas featuring the same central characters, go for them. Also, I enjoy a broad range from fluff to angst, so whatever suits you best works fine with me.
DNW:
- bashing of canon pairings or characters in general. By which I don't mean the characters have to like each and everyone - a great number of those I've nominated can be described as prickly jerks, among other things, and it would be entirely ic for them to say something negative about people they canonically can't stand - but there's a difference between that and the narrative giving me the impression to go along with said opinions.
- Alpha/Beta/Omega scenarios, watersports, infantilisation. Really not my thing, sorry.
Likes:
- competence, competent people appreciating each other
- deep loyalty and not blindly accepting orders
- flirting/seduction via wordplay and banter (if it works for you with the characters in question)
- for the darker push/pull dynamics: moments of tenderness and understanding in between the fighting/one upman shipping (without abandoning the anger)
- for the pairings, both romantic and non-romantic, that are gentler and harmonious by nature: making it clear each has their own life and agenda as well
- some humor amidst the angst (especially if the character in question displays it in canon)
The question of AUs: depends. "What if this key canon event did not happen?" can lead to great character and dynamics exploration, some of which made it into my specific prompts, but I do want to recognize the characters. Half of those I nominated are from historical canons, and the history is part of the fascination the canon has for me. ) However, if you feel inspired to, say, write Maria Theresa, space captain, and manage to do it in a way that gives me gripping analogues to the historical situations: be my guest!
How much or how little sex: I'm cool with anything you feel comfortable with, from detailed sex to the proverbial fade out after a kiss. Or no sex at all (case in point: several of the non-romantic relationships I prompted), as long as the story explores the emotional dynamics in an intense way.
Josephus Trilogy - Lion Feuchtwanger
Joseph and his frenemy Justus of Tiberias were a delight to read in trilogy from Joseph's pov, but I'm greedy: give me that of Justus. Does he figure out who got him off the literal cross and is he furious about it?
The first golem story is reported. Joseph and Justus, naturally, argue about the likelihood or lack of same of its existence. And then they meet one!
Mara: speaking of povs the novels ever give us. I'd love a vignette of Mara in Rome in the second novel, no longer the teenage captive and a self reliant woman but bound to have some traumatic flashbacks to her Vespasian experience with all the Romans around her, and that's before the (spoiler tragic event) happens. Or, less traumatic: Mara in Israel, rebuilding her life in Joseph's absence and growing into being her own person. Lastly: an encounter between Mara and Lucia, and/or Berenike and/or Mara and Caenis, women who are completely on the other end of the social scale. We hardly ever see any type of encounter between the female characters in this novel, though they occasionally comment on each other to third parties. I'd be fascinated to learn what Mara makes of any of these ladies.
18th Century Fredericians
All the characters are in an "or" position, i.e. you don't have to include the lot of them, though of course some of my prompts ask for combinations; they're just that, prompts, and if your own idea is quite different, go for it.
- Wilhelmine & Maria Theresa: the lunch they had in 1745 which upset Frederick so much remains high on my "this needs to be written by someone" list
- Wilhelmine alone: those months after the escape attempt and before she gives in and agrees to marry, when she doesn't know whether her brother will live or die, whether she herself will end up like one of her grandmothers, locked up for life, while she's essentially held prisoner as well, just in her own rooms
- Wilhelmine AU where she does marry Frederick of Wales and finds out the Hannover cousins are just as dysfunctional as her own family, complete with Fritz-hating parent
- Maria Theresa & Francis: their reaction when Frederick (whom Francis actually likes) invades in 1740 and MT decides not to cave in and fight
- Maria Theresa alone: deciding the War of the Bavarian Succession is just a bad idea all around and reaching out to her greatest enemy to stop it behind her son's back
- Joseph & Maria Theresa & Francis: anything from how he related to his parents, from funny (reporting to Mum on what Dad was eating and the cold he had en route to Frankfurt) to angry & angsty (he did not want that second marriage, and of course later the clashes with his mother were gazillion to h/c (different as he was from his parents, I don't think he ever doubted they loved him, and chose to be buried with them; they both died in his arms years apart, and I like to think during his own miserable death he felt they were close.
- Fredersdorf: his pov on the bonkers Glasow affair that went down during his last year(s) of life. What did he make of Glasow initially rising to favour? Was he jealous, as Lehndorff speculates? Did he on the contrary see Glasow as simply another handsome distraction? Once he knew he was dying, and Glasow started to get actual responsibilities, was he worried or did he tell himself not to be, not to be biased by some resentment? And once the big news broke about Glasow's betrayal broke and everyone involved with the clean-up operation wrote to him asking for advice while Fredersdorf had only months to live and the 7 Years War was hittng the first year mark, complete with first big defeat for Frederick, how did he cope with that?
Byzantine Empresses
The only two whose lifespan overlaps are the Theophano/us, so you really don't have to use more than one in your story, though if you somehow manage more, by all means. I've gotten into Byzantine history this last year and would be thrilled with any of them as a central focus.
Irene: the only Empress to rule in her own right instead of as regent eventually - at the price of her son's life. We'll never know whether she did more than blind him and he simply died of the infection and/or other causes or whether she intended his death, but even in the best case scenario, she must have known it was a risk. Now you don't have to address this if, say, you prefer writing about the young Irene at her father-in-law's court, biding her time, or Irene after the death of her husband outmanoeuvring her opponents and maintaining the Regency, or Irene negotiating with Charlemagne and tackling Haroun Al Rashid. But if you do address the matter of the coup against her son, I'm good with either interpretation (i.e. she wanted to remove him from power but not from life, or that she intended to kill him), and would be fascinated to read a take on what went on in her while she made that decision. Or even after, from her own exile in Lesbos.
Theodora: Anything from a serious vignette of any episode of her rags-to-riches life to an entire flippant retelling and filking of the musical Evita as Theodora (Procopius is Che, naturally, though I guess Peron as Justinian is somewhat unfair to Justinian) would be welcome and highly appreciated. Some prompts, with the addendum that if you have a very different idea and/or episode you'd rather write about, I'm sure to love it as well: Thedora's relationship with Antonina - friendship from their mutual days of poverty, Empress and agent, allies and occasional enemies. Theodora in Alexandria, which must have been the turning point of her life. And: while we famously know how Theodora reacted during the Nike Riots, I want to know what went on in her when the Plague came and Justinian became sick. Along side with a great deal of the population, many of whom died. Thedora was undoubtedly very aware that if he died, her own future looked very dark indeed. But illness - let alone a strange and new one like that - was not an enemy she could outmonaeuvre. Lastly, Justinian and Theodora: even Procopius who accused her of pretty much everything under the sun doesn't accuse her of ever cheating on Justinian. And Justinian had not been born into the purple, either; he had started out as a peasant before his uncle made it to the top. What drew the two of them together, what was their relationship like?
Theophano (Anastaso): speaking of imperial women accused of anything under the sun, Anthony Kaldellis makes a pretty convincing case that Theophano was scapegoated because John Tsimitikes needed to give the Patriarch a fall guy (or rather fall woman), and that she most likely didn't commit any of the murders she got blamed for. Otoh, Theocharis Spyros' graphic novel of her has her guilty of the various deaths but gives her sympathetic motivation and makes the case for her trying her best in a lethal environment. In any event, hers is another rags-to-riches tale, and she managed to survive into her son's reign who promptly called her back from exile, so she died free, reinstated and with her children. No matter whether you see her as a lethal power player or as a scapegoat who nonetheless manages to outlive her enemies, preserve the lives and health of all three of her children (when usually after usurpations castrations and blindings were the standard for the previous occupant's unforunate offsprings) and achieve a happy ending, I'd love to read a story about this empress starting out as a tavern owner's daughter managing to survive through three reigns and into the fourth (of her son) against all odds!
Theophanu (HRE): not, as older history speculated, the daughter of Theophano but the niece of John Tsimtsikes (i.e. an ursurper), sent to marry Otto I's son as essentially a replacement bunny (for the born-in-the-purple princess the Ottonians wanted and ending up ruling the not-yet-called-this Holy Roman Empire for young Otto III, her son, after a dramatic showdown for the regency against Henry the Quarreler. I've always been fascinated by the idea of teenage Theophanu arriving in this completely different world where hardly anyone other than a few monks even spoke a language she could understand, and where she probably was seen as a let down by who she was (and wasn't), and within a decade emerging as undisputed ruler, having outwitted the most powerful noble around. (Via an allegiance with her mother-in-law. Whether or or not she and Adelheid were really enemies before that, evidently Henry the Quarreller had not expected this quick team-up.) Whether it's teenage Theophanu arriving in Italy or Empress Thehopanu making her alliance with Adelheid, choose an episode, write about it, and I will be a grateful and happy reader !
Foundation (TV)
It's been a little more than a week since I've finished marathoning this show, and I love it. Demerezel is the character I'm most interested in, but the second season also gave me powerful feelings about the relationship between Gaal and Salvor (and both of them and Hari Seldon). My listing all three characters is meant as an "any of them as a central focus would be great, but they don't have to show up all at the same time", though of course in the case of Gaal and Salvor the relationship that develops between them is part of the attraction. This to me was finally an example of a sci fi show creating a mother-daughter biological set up between characters the same age (or rather, Salvor as biologically older) due to Sci Fi circumstances and not taking it or granted that they would immediately bond but show the relationship grow across the episodes, never forgetting these two came from very different circumstances, too. A missing scene type of story set during s2 would be as welcome as a "Five Things" type of AUs exploring the different ways their relationship could have developed in different circumstances.
As for Demerezel, her long, long life of course offers a multitude of backstory speculation. (Yes, I know who she is meant to be if the show follows the books. No, you don't have to cling to that if you don't want to, especially if you haven't read any of the Asimov stories in quesiton, though of course if you do want to, by all means!) I expect later seasons will reveal some of what she did and who she was before getting imprisoned and literally cut into pieces for five thousand years, other than becoming a Luminarian, but the bits and pieces from the last six hundred years, i.e. from Cleon I. onwards, are tantalizing enough. What was it like for her when Cleon I. died? Did she hope until this point his reprogamming of her might not outlive him or that his death would allow her to find a loophole, or on the contrary, was she glad (after five thousand years in solitude) that whatever else it was, the Genetic Dynasty set up and her reprogramming ensured she would never be alone again for the foreseeable future (i.e. for as long as the Genetic Dynasty was maintained, which she's programmed to ensure it will be)? As of the end of s2, she's lived with eighteen versions of Cleon (plus unknown number of replacement clones if and when a Dawn, Day or Dusk had to be replaced for his time), literally going with them from birth to death, and seeing both the repeating patterns and the differences. What's that like to her? Does she see them all as individuals or does she see them as aspects of the dead Cleon I? What is her relationship like with the other people working at the palace - the Shadow Masters, the Concubines, the guards, the doctors? Do any of them guess or know her robotic nature? I'm intrigued by Demerezel specifically picking Bel Riose, whom she knew was bound to clash with Cleon XVII again sooner or later, to get out of imprisonment and back as the main general again, and by their brief exchange when Day decides to go Terminus, when he wants to know whether Day sounding reasonable makes her as nervous as it does him, and Demerezel telling him there is a reason why she chose him (Bel Riose). Sounds to me as if these two had a history before Bel Riose's imprisonment at least on a good working basis. We know Demerezel can't act against the Genetic Dynasty due to her programming, but she can prioritize the Dynasty as a whole over an individual Cleon if she thinks this particular clone is damaging to the entire Dynasty. Could it be she thought this Day was getting near this point and thus Bel Riose, the one general capable of resisting efficiently if push came to shove and still loyal to Empire in a way that would prevent him from going for the outright Revolution option, should be a position to act against him? Going back to season 1, here the last thing we see of Demerezel is - after she killed Dawn - literally clawing her face off and screaming in the privacy of her quarters. Evidently, she put herself together again later, she had to. Not least since Day was simultanously losing it on Cleon I's corpse. How does she cope?
Lost in Space
I loved the relationship the show developed between this Dr. Smith/June Harris and Maureen, as well as between Smith and Penny, and Smith and Will. You get the sense that Maureen became the first Robinson whom Smith grudgingly respected (instead of faking it), and the way her pretend care and manipulations re: the kids in s1 was and looked quite different from the actual feelings caught in the later seasons was great to watch as well, complete with Penny going "you're Dr. Smith! You get get into anyone's head, do that!" at her in s2 and the kids being stuck with her as the only adult between seasons 2 and 3. (Any missing scenes set in that period would be great!) I loved that the show didn't take the easy way out with Smith that would either have been redemption by sacrificial death or a return to eternal villaindom, but squarely addressed what had made her into a villain in the first place, the unwillingness to accept any responsibility for her actions, and made the feelings between her and the various Robinsons layered and complicated. A story reflecting this, be Maureen and Smith when Smith is her prisoner, Will and Smith talking about Robot (and the other machines) in s3, or Smith trying to manipulate Penny against her parents and ending up giving her actual meant advice in s2 - all would be lovely to read about.
DNW: If John didn't exist, I'd completely buy a frenemies-with-benefits relationship between Maureen and Smith, too, especially in the later seasons, but as it is, I'd rather not have any scenario that involves cheating.
Vikings: Valhalla
One thing that ensured I'm fonder of the spin-off than I've been of the original show since later's s4 or thereabouts is its take on Emma and the way it builds up her relatonship with Godwin from neutral (and not dissimilar clever people in the same administration) to increasingly lethal rivals while giving them both sense-making motivations from their respective povs, and without making one of them always superior to the other. While the result was dark, I loved that Emma in s1 correctly guessed Godwin's supposed saving of her life was a set up on his part, but still walked into a trap she figured out too late what his actual goal was. And that she didn't let herself off the hook when she did figure out he weas counting on her going so far as to torture the young woman he professed to love. They both have blood on their hands and both know it, and they both know the other is the only person really seeing through them. I also appreciate the symbolism - while at this point of the story Saxons and Vikings are still duking it out, Emma the Norman is the embodiment of the future to come at the expense of both, and at the end of this long power struggle, her nephew will destroy Godwin's son. But Emma herself will see most of her children die, while Godwin will die assuming he's put his own dynasty on the English throne.
Anyway, a story focusing on Emma and Godwin at any point of the show so far would be great. Reluctant allies against a third party, rivals bent destroying each other, choose your poison, I will drink it. If you want to write about just one of them and NOT about their relationship with eachother: here I have a preference for Emma (backstory in Normandy? Missing scene from the flirting with Canute to the affair? How did she arrange things with her brother for her fake departure? What kind of relationship does she have with her children?, but certainly won't be ungrateful for a Godwin story, either.
we share at least one fandom, which is great, and I'm really grateful you take the time and trouble to write a story for me. All the prompts are just suggestions; if you have very different ideas featuring the same central characters, go for them. Also, I enjoy a broad range from fluff to angst, so whatever suits you best works fine with me.
DNW:
- bashing of canon pairings or characters in general. By which I don't mean the characters have to like each and everyone - a great number of those I've nominated can be described as prickly jerks, among other things, and it would be entirely ic for them to say something negative about people they canonically can't stand - but there's a difference between that and the narrative giving me the impression to go along with said opinions.
- Alpha/Beta/Omega scenarios, watersports, infantilisation. Really not my thing, sorry.
Likes:
- competence, competent people appreciating each other
- deep loyalty and not blindly accepting orders
- flirting/seduction via wordplay and banter (if it works for you with the characters in question)
- for the darker push/pull dynamics: moments of tenderness and understanding in between the fighting/one upman shipping (without abandoning the anger)
- for the pairings, both romantic and non-romantic, that are gentler and harmonious by nature: making it clear each has their own life and agenda as well
- some humor amidst the angst (especially if the character in question displays it in canon)
The question of AUs: depends. "What if this key canon event did not happen?" can lead to great character and dynamics exploration, some of which made it into my specific prompts, but I do want to recognize the characters. Half of those I nominated are from historical canons, and the history is part of the fascination the canon has for me. ) However, if you feel inspired to, say, write Maria Theresa, space captain, and manage to do it in a way that gives me gripping analogues to the historical situations: be my guest!
How much or how little sex: I'm cool with anything you feel comfortable with, from detailed sex to the proverbial fade out after a kiss. Or no sex at all (case in point: several of the non-romantic relationships I prompted), as long as the story explores the emotional dynamics in an intense way.
Josephus Trilogy - Lion Feuchtwanger
Joseph and his frenemy Justus of Tiberias were a delight to read in trilogy from Joseph's pov, but I'm greedy: give me that of Justus. Does he figure out who got him off the literal cross and is he furious about it?
The first golem story is reported. Joseph and Justus, naturally, argue about the likelihood or lack of same of its existence. And then they meet one!
Mara: speaking of povs the novels ever give us. I'd love a vignette of Mara in Rome in the second novel, no longer the teenage captive and a self reliant woman but bound to have some traumatic flashbacks to her Vespasian experience with all the Romans around her, and that's before the (spoiler tragic event) happens. Or, less traumatic: Mara in Israel, rebuilding her life in Joseph's absence and growing into being her own person. Lastly: an encounter between Mara and Lucia, and/or Berenike and/or Mara and Caenis, women who are completely on the other end of the social scale. We hardly ever see any type of encounter between the female characters in this novel, though they occasionally comment on each other to third parties. I'd be fascinated to learn what Mara makes of any of these ladies.
18th Century Fredericians
All the characters are in an "or" position, i.e. you don't have to include the lot of them, though of course some of my prompts ask for combinations; they're just that, prompts, and if your own idea is quite different, go for it.
- Wilhelmine & Maria Theresa: the lunch they had in 1745 which upset Frederick so much remains high on my "this needs to be written by someone" list
- Wilhelmine alone: those months after the escape attempt and before she gives in and agrees to marry, when she doesn't know whether her brother will live or die, whether she herself will end up like one of her grandmothers, locked up for life, while she's essentially held prisoner as well, just in her own rooms
- Wilhelmine AU where she does marry Frederick of Wales and finds out the Hannover cousins are just as dysfunctional as her own family, complete with Fritz-hating parent
- Maria Theresa & Francis: their reaction when Frederick (whom Francis actually likes) invades in 1740 and MT decides not to cave in and fight
- Maria Theresa alone: deciding the War of the Bavarian Succession is just a bad idea all around and reaching out to her greatest enemy to stop it behind her son's back
- Joseph & Maria Theresa & Francis: anything from how he related to his parents, from funny (reporting to Mum on what Dad was eating and the cold he had en route to Frankfurt) to angry & angsty (he did not want that second marriage, and of course later the clashes with his mother were gazillion to h/c (different as he was from his parents, I don't think he ever doubted they loved him, and chose to be buried with them; they both died in his arms years apart, and I like to think during his own miserable death he felt they were close.
- Fredersdorf: his pov on the bonkers Glasow affair that went down during his last year(s) of life. What did he make of Glasow initially rising to favour? Was he jealous, as Lehndorff speculates? Did he on the contrary see Glasow as simply another handsome distraction? Once he knew he was dying, and Glasow started to get actual responsibilities, was he worried or did he tell himself not to be, not to be biased by some resentment? And once the big news broke about Glasow's betrayal broke and everyone involved with the clean-up operation wrote to him asking for advice while Fredersdorf had only months to live and the 7 Years War was hittng the first year mark, complete with first big defeat for Frederick, how did he cope with that?
Byzantine Empresses
The only two whose lifespan overlaps are the Theophano/us, so you really don't have to use more than one in your story, though if you somehow manage more, by all means. I've gotten into Byzantine history this last year and would be thrilled with any of them as a central focus.
Irene: the only Empress to rule in her own right instead of as regent eventually - at the price of her son's life. We'll never know whether she did more than blind him and he simply died of the infection and/or other causes or whether she intended his death, but even in the best case scenario, she must have known it was a risk. Now you don't have to address this if, say, you prefer writing about the young Irene at her father-in-law's court, biding her time, or Irene after the death of her husband outmanoeuvring her opponents and maintaining the Regency, or Irene negotiating with Charlemagne and tackling Haroun Al Rashid. But if you do address the matter of the coup against her son, I'm good with either interpretation (i.e. she wanted to remove him from power but not from life, or that she intended to kill him), and would be fascinated to read a take on what went on in her while she made that decision. Or even after, from her own exile in Lesbos.
Theodora: Anything from a serious vignette of any episode of her rags-to-riches life to an entire flippant retelling and filking of the musical Evita as Theodora (Procopius is Che, naturally, though I guess Peron as Justinian is somewhat unfair to Justinian) would be welcome and highly appreciated. Some prompts, with the addendum that if you have a very different idea and/or episode you'd rather write about, I'm sure to love it as well: Thedora's relationship with Antonina - friendship from their mutual days of poverty, Empress and agent, allies and occasional enemies. Theodora in Alexandria, which must have been the turning point of her life. And: while we famously know how Theodora reacted during the Nike Riots, I want to know what went on in her when the Plague came and Justinian became sick. Along side with a great deal of the population, many of whom died. Thedora was undoubtedly very aware that if he died, her own future looked very dark indeed. But illness - let alone a strange and new one like that - was not an enemy she could outmonaeuvre. Lastly, Justinian and Theodora: even Procopius who accused her of pretty much everything under the sun doesn't accuse her of ever cheating on Justinian. And Justinian had not been born into the purple, either; he had started out as a peasant before his uncle made it to the top. What drew the two of them together, what was their relationship like?
Theophano (Anastaso): speaking of imperial women accused of anything under the sun, Anthony Kaldellis makes a pretty convincing case that Theophano was scapegoated because John Tsimitikes needed to give the Patriarch a fall guy (or rather fall woman), and that she most likely didn't commit any of the murders she got blamed for. Otoh, Theocharis Spyros' graphic novel of her has her guilty of the various deaths but gives her sympathetic motivation and makes the case for her trying her best in a lethal environment. In any event, hers is another rags-to-riches tale, and she managed to survive into her son's reign who promptly called her back from exile, so she died free, reinstated and with her children. No matter whether you see her as a lethal power player or as a scapegoat who nonetheless manages to outlive her enemies, preserve the lives and health of all three of her children (when usually after usurpations castrations and blindings were the standard for the previous occupant's unforunate offsprings) and achieve a happy ending, I'd love to read a story about this empress starting out as a tavern owner's daughter managing to survive through three reigns and into the fourth (of her son) against all odds!
Theophanu (HRE): not, as older history speculated, the daughter of Theophano but the niece of John Tsimtsikes (i.e. an ursurper), sent to marry Otto I's son as essentially a replacement bunny (for the born-in-the-purple princess the Ottonians wanted and ending up ruling the not-yet-called-this Holy Roman Empire for young Otto III, her son, after a dramatic showdown for the regency against Henry the Quarreler. I've always been fascinated by the idea of teenage Theophanu arriving in this completely different world where hardly anyone other than a few monks even spoke a language she could understand, and where she probably was seen as a let down by who she was (and wasn't), and within a decade emerging as undisputed ruler, having outwitted the most powerful noble around. (Via an allegiance with her mother-in-law. Whether or or not she and Adelheid were really enemies before that, evidently Henry the Quarreller had not expected this quick team-up.) Whether it's teenage Theophanu arriving in Italy or Empress Thehopanu making her alliance with Adelheid, choose an episode, write about it, and I will be a grateful and happy reader !
Foundation (TV)
It's been a little more than a week since I've finished marathoning this show, and I love it. Demerezel is the character I'm most interested in, but the second season also gave me powerful feelings about the relationship between Gaal and Salvor (and both of them and Hari Seldon). My listing all three characters is meant as an "any of them as a central focus would be great, but they don't have to show up all at the same time", though of course in the case of Gaal and Salvor the relationship that develops between them is part of the attraction. This to me was finally an example of a sci fi show creating a mother-daughter biological set up between characters the same age (or rather, Salvor as biologically older) due to Sci Fi circumstances and not taking it or granted that they would immediately bond but show the relationship grow across the episodes, never forgetting these two came from very different circumstances, too. A missing scene type of story set during s2 would be as welcome as a "Five Things" type of AUs exploring the different ways their relationship could have developed in different circumstances.
As for Demerezel, her long, long life of course offers a multitude of backstory speculation. (Yes, I know who she is meant to be if the show follows the books. No, you don't have to cling to that if you don't want to, especially if you haven't read any of the Asimov stories in quesiton, though of course if you do want to, by all means!) I expect later seasons will reveal some of what she did and who she was before getting imprisoned and literally cut into pieces for five thousand years, other than becoming a Luminarian, but the bits and pieces from the last six hundred years, i.e. from Cleon I. onwards, are tantalizing enough. What was it like for her when Cleon I. died? Did she hope until this point his reprogamming of her might not outlive him or that his death would allow her to find a loophole, or on the contrary, was she glad (after five thousand years in solitude) that whatever else it was, the Genetic Dynasty set up and her reprogramming ensured she would never be alone again for the foreseeable future (i.e. for as long as the Genetic Dynasty was maintained, which she's programmed to ensure it will be)? As of the end of s2, she's lived with eighteen versions of Cleon (plus unknown number of replacement clones if and when a Dawn, Day or Dusk had to be replaced for his time), literally going with them from birth to death, and seeing both the repeating patterns and the differences. What's that like to her? Does she see them all as individuals or does she see them as aspects of the dead Cleon I? What is her relationship like with the other people working at the palace - the Shadow Masters, the Concubines, the guards, the doctors? Do any of them guess or know her robotic nature? I'm intrigued by Demerezel specifically picking Bel Riose, whom she knew was bound to clash with Cleon XVII again sooner or later, to get out of imprisonment and back as the main general again, and by their brief exchange when Day decides to go Terminus, when he wants to know whether Day sounding reasonable makes her as nervous as it does him, and Demerezel telling him there is a reason why she chose him (Bel Riose). Sounds to me as if these two had a history before Bel Riose's imprisonment at least on a good working basis. We know Demerezel can't act against the Genetic Dynasty due to her programming, but she can prioritize the Dynasty as a whole over an individual Cleon if she thinks this particular clone is damaging to the entire Dynasty. Could it be she thought this Day was getting near this point and thus Bel Riose, the one general capable of resisting efficiently if push came to shove and still loyal to Empire in a way that would prevent him from going for the outright Revolution option, should be a position to act against him? Going back to season 1, here the last thing we see of Demerezel is - after she killed Dawn - literally clawing her face off and screaming in the privacy of her quarters. Evidently, she put herself together again later, she had to. Not least since Day was simultanously losing it on Cleon I's corpse. How does she cope?
Lost in Space
I loved the relationship the show developed between this Dr. Smith/June Harris and Maureen, as well as between Smith and Penny, and Smith and Will. You get the sense that Maureen became the first Robinson whom Smith grudgingly respected (instead of faking it), and the way her pretend care and manipulations re: the kids in s1 was and looked quite different from the actual feelings caught in the later seasons was great to watch as well, complete with Penny going "you're Dr. Smith! You get get into anyone's head, do that!" at her in s2 and the kids being stuck with her as the only adult between seasons 2 and 3. (Any missing scenes set in that period would be great!) I loved that the show didn't take the easy way out with Smith that would either have been redemption by sacrificial death or a return to eternal villaindom, but squarely addressed what had made her into a villain in the first place, the unwillingness to accept any responsibility for her actions, and made the feelings between her and the various Robinsons layered and complicated. A story reflecting this, be Maureen and Smith when Smith is her prisoner, Will and Smith talking about Robot (and the other machines) in s3, or Smith trying to manipulate Penny against her parents and ending up giving her actual meant advice in s2 - all would be lovely to read about.
DNW: If John didn't exist, I'd completely buy a frenemies-with-benefits relationship between Maureen and Smith, too, especially in the later seasons, but as it is, I'd rather not have any scenario that involves cheating.
Vikings: Valhalla
One thing that ensured I'm fonder of the spin-off than I've been of the original show since later's s4 or thereabouts is its take on Emma and the way it builds up her relatonship with Godwin from neutral (and not dissimilar clever people in the same administration) to increasingly lethal rivals while giving them both sense-making motivations from their respective povs, and without making one of them always superior to the other. While the result was dark, I loved that Emma in s1 correctly guessed Godwin's supposed saving of her life was a set up on his part, but still walked into a trap she figured out too late what his actual goal was. And that she didn't let herself off the hook when she did figure out he weas counting on her going so far as to torture the young woman he professed to love. They both have blood on their hands and both know it, and they both know the other is the only person really seeing through them. I also appreciate the symbolism - while at this point of the story Saxons and Vikings are still duking it out, Emma the Norman is the embodiment of the future to come at the expense of both, and at the end of this long power struggle, her nephew will destroy Godwin's son. But Emma herself will see most of her children die, while Godwin will die assuming he's put his own dynasty on the English throne.
Anyway, a story focusing on Emma and Godwin at any point of the show so far would be great. Reluctant allies against a third party, rivals bent destroying each other, choose your poison, I will drink it. If you want to write about just one of them and NOT about their relationship with eachother: here I have a preference for Emma (backstory in Normandy? Missing scene from the flirting with Canute to the affair? How did she arrange things with her brother for her fake departure? What kind of relationship does she have with her children?, but certainly won't be ungrateful for a Godwin story, either.
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Hmmm…. Both of them meeting in Rome sounds semi plausible? This is pre-schism, after all, and they‘re both close enough to their respective territories (after all, Byzantium still holds Sicily at this point, while Charlemagne has taken Northern Italy).
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