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Dear Author Letter, Yuletide 2023
Dear author:
Hello and happy Yuletide! Thanks for choosing one of my fandoms and thanks in advance for the story! I always find that the writing is the most enjoyable, rewarding part of Yuletide and I hope you feel the same way.
The prompts are here purely for your convenience and to get the plot bunnies stirring. If none of them appeal to you, it's fine to go in a different direction.
For the shippy requests, it is totally fine to include sexual content as long as it's not just porn without plot. Porn rooted in plot or in characterization is my preference if you want to write porn at all. But porn is by no means necessary--I will happily read any rating.
In all cases, I am fine with you including any additional characters from the canon so long as the focus is on one or more of the requested characters.
I love canon divergence, but please no AUs that change the setting--I don't want to read stuff set in high school or coffee shops or with superheroes or whatever.
DNWS: PWP, character-bashing, infidelity, "onscreen" rape/non-con (dubcon of the shag-or-die/sex pollen or we're-forced-to-have-sex-due-to-circumstances are okay if it's between mentioned ships), AUs that change the setting (no high schools, coffee shops, or superheroes, please!), unmitigated fluff (some fluff is fine, but please temper it with other things), humiliation, broad humor, OOC, baby fic (meaning fic that focuses on the ship having/adopting a child. Incidental children are fine). For porn, I like dom/sub dynamics, but other than that, I'm not really into kinky stuff.
General likes: angst, especially if it ends happily; hurt/comfort; mutual pining; in character characters; complicated relationships between women; good worldbuilding; outsider povs; location/setting as character; good people trying to do the right thing; bad people trying to do the right thing; found families; total devotion/us against the world dynamics.
Fandom tropes I'm into: arranged marriages, soulbonds of whatever kind, post-apocalyptic stuff (as long as it's within the overall canon--say, things go very wrong for Mirasol or there's a zombie uprising that Casey and Derek have to face), forced proximity, enemies to lovers, amnesia fic.
Fandom: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Characters: Catherine of Winchester, Worldbuilding
*bangs on the table* WORLDBUILDING. With this fandom, I am ravenous for anything that replicates the feel of the book (footnotes welcome!), especially the wild, fae York-adjacent magic. If you want to bring in some canon side characters like the Raven King, etc. that would be great, but I am not really wanting anything focused on the characters from the novel. I'm all about the atmosphere, the eerie magic, the sense of history, the scholarly bent, the pastiche of the 19th century novel, etc. Alternately, I would love anything that explores Catherine of Winchester more.
I don't have any specific prompts to share with you, but since you're brave enough to agree to offer worldbuilding for this fandom, I am confident that anything you write will be wonderful.
Fandom: Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
Characters: Tenar
Tenar is my forever fave, and so I'm requesting fic that focuses on her in some way. You can go shippy with Tenar/Ged, you can explore her motherly relationship with Tehanu, or you can focus exclusively on Tenar. I am especially interested in stuff that focuses on the Tombs of Atuan or Tehanu eras, but I would not be opposed to looking in on what she was up to in between those two times. She's so ripe for exploring themes of identity and agency and what it is to be a woman. I feel like if you focus on her, you can't go wrong. Feel free to include any other characters you choose.
I also love magic and descriptions thereof, the fact that Tenar is a middle aged woman and is as valid a protagonist as any teenage chosen one, the fact that she chose an ordinary life and how there's nothing wrong with that, her disappointment over her son being...a disappointment, worldbuilding, etc.
But here are a few prompts if you like:
+ Canon divergence where Ged doesn't have that no-romance spell on himself and they fall in love soon after they first meet
+ Canon divergence where she never leaves Atuan or doesn't leave for some years after the book
+ Anything set post-Tehanu where Tenar and Tehanu grapple with Tehanu's newly-revealed identity as a dragon. Does Tenar's background help her to help Tehanu navigate this?
Fandom: This Is New Gehesran Calling - Rebecca Fraimow
Characters: Any character from the story and/or worldbuilding
I did not request characters for this one, but if you want to use any characters from the original story, please do. What I want is some more of those ~diaspora feels~ and you're welcome to explore that either through the canonical characters or OCs. I'd love to learn more about New Gehesran culture, the specifics of why it fell and why all the characters are in exile, further bonding via pirate radio, other ways the exiles keep New Gehesran culture alive, etc.
Fandom: Chalice - Robin McKinley
Characters: Mirasol, Liapnir, Bees, Worldbuilding
I lovelovelove Mirasol, Liapnir, and the worldbuilding of this book. I really don't feel like you can go wrong here--if you focus on any of those things, I will be so happy. I request that the focus be either on Mirasol (with Liapnir and/or Bees along for the ride) OR be focused on worldbuilding. If you choose worldbuilding and want to create an original Chalice/demesne and explore her...that's awesome! Go for it!
Just a couple of prompts for this one:
+ Canon divergence where Liapnir's brother doesn't send him to the fire monks and instead he and Mirasol end up dealing with life in their demesne under a brutal leader
+ Canon divergence where Liapnir hurts Mirasol more badly than he did in canon
+ Post-canon fic about Liapnir figuring out how to be human again or the two of them adjusting to marriage--that cannot be an easy thing when one of them hasn't been human for so long!
+ Anything at all about Mirasol growing into her powers, getting to know the Willowlands, etc.
+ Original Chalice!
Fandom: Seventy-Two Letters - Ted Chiang
Characters: Worldbuilding
This short story made me feel some kind of way. For HaShem’s sake, someone tell me what’s going on in the margins of this world! Either turn it Jewish or turn it queer, I’m not picky!
So the rich white dudes are busy turning Kabbalistic ideas about naming into a science for ends in capitalism or eugenics. Horrifying! But I do not believe that Jews are just sitting around pouting about how their holy exercise in mysticism is being misused. Is there a Marx figure who’s writing manifestos about how an intrinsically Jewish practice has been stolen by the worst of the goyim? Is there a Herzl figure searching for a political solution? Are there women demanding more egalitarian access to Kabbalah as a way of preserving it? Is there an overlap between Bund activism and the need to take back Kabbalah? Is an anarchist collective marrying the exploitation of the proletariat and the exploitation of intrinsically Jewish spirituality and getting really, really pissed off about it?
And what about the past? This has clearly been going on for some centuries (probably since the Renaissance?) so how has it affected the standing of Jewish communities in various parts of the world? Are they treated worse or better?
Alternately: I am not wild about this enforcement of the sexual binary! What is going on with trans people in this world????
Fandom: Life with Derek
Characters: Casey McDonald, Derek Venturi
I am but a simple Dasey shipper. Yes, I am basic. The way these two are so obsessed with each other but can't admit it because of Reasons is so delicious. I would prefer not to have a real AU for them--the fact that they've been living together for years and have all this history is what makes this ship so appealing to me, so I'm not interested in a story where they aren't stepsiblings. Something set during the show (I ignore the movie) or post-show would work equally well for me.
Prompts:
+ Anything with Derek being protective of Casey
+ Actually, anything with Casey being protective of Derek
+ Angsty pining!
+ Angsty pining followed by finally getting together!
+ Secretly banging and Not Talking About It (while pining)
+ I really am so basic about them!
Hello and happy Yuletide! Thanks for choosing one of my fandoms and thanks in advance for the story! I always find that the writing is the most enjoyable, rewarding part of Yuletide and I hope you feel the same way.
The prompts are here purely for your convenience and to get the plot bunnies stirring. If none of them appeal to you, it's fine to go in a different direction.
For the shippy requests, it is totally fine to include sexual content as long as it's not just porn without plot. Porn rooted in plot or in characterization is my preference if you want to write porn at all. But porn is by no means necessary--I will happily read any rating.
In all cases, I am fine with you including any additional characters from the canon so long as the focus is on one or more of the requested characters.
I love canon divergence, but please no AUs that change the setting--I don't want to read stuff set in high school or coffee shops or with superheroes or whatever.
DNWS: PWP, character-bashing, infidelity, "onscreen" rape/non-con (dubcon of the shag-or-die/sex pollen or we're-forced-to-have-sex-due-to-circumstances are okay if it's between mentioned ships), AUs that change the setting (no high schools, coffee shops, or superheroes, please!), unmitigated fluff (some fluff is fine, but please temper it with other things), humiliation, broad humor, OOC, baby fic (meaning fic that focuses on the ship having/adopting a child. Incidental children are fine). For porn, I like dom/sub dynamics, but other than that, I'm not really into kinky stuff.
General likes: angst, especially if it ends happily; hurt/comfort; mutual pining; in character characters; complicated relationships between women; good worldbuilding; outsider povs; location/setting as character; good people trying to do the right thing; bad people trying to do the right thing; found families; total devotion/us against the world dynamics.
Fandom tropes I'm into: arranged marriages, soulbonds of whatever kind, post-apocalyptic stuff (as long as it's within the overall canon--say, things go very wrong for Mirasol or there's a zombie uprising that Casey and Derek have to face), forced proximity, enemies to lovers, amnesia fic.
Fandom: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Characters: Catherine of Winchester, Worldbuilding
*bangs on the table* WORLDBUILDING. With this fandom, I am ravenous for anything that replicates the feel of the book (footnotes welcome!), especially the wild, fae York-adjacent magic. If you want to bring in some canon side characters like the Raven King, etc. that would be great, but I am not really wanting anything focused on the characters from the novel. I'm all about the atmosphere, the eerie magic, the sense of history, the scholarly bent, the pastiche of the 19th century novel, etc. Alternately, I would love anything that explores Catherine of Winchester more.
I don't have any specific prompts to share with you, but since you're brave enough to agree to offer worldbuilding for this fandom, I am confident that anything you write will be wonderful.
Fandom: Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
Characters: Tenar
Tenar is my forever fave, and so I'm requesting fic that focuses on her in some way. You can go shippy with Tenar/Ged, you can explore her motherly relationship with Tehanu, or you can focus exclusively on Tenar. I am especially interested in stuff that focuses on the Tombs of Atuan or Tehanu eras, but I would not be opposed to looking in on what she was up to in between those two times. She's so ripe for exploring themes of identity and agency and what it is to be a woman. I feel like if you focus on her, you can't go wrong. Feel free to include any other characters you choose.
I also love magic and descriptions thereof, the fact that Tenar is a middle aged woman and is as valid a protagonist as any teenage chosen one, the fact that she chose an ordinary life and how there's nothing wrong with that, her disappointment over her son being...a disappointment, worldbuilding, etc.
But here are a few prompts if you like:
+ Canon divergence where Ged doesn't have that no-romance spell on himself and they fall in love soon after they first meet
+ Canon divergence where she never leaves Atuan or doesn't leave for some years after the book
+ Anything set post-Tehanu where Tenar and Tehanu grapple with Tehanu's newly-revealed identity as a dragon. Does Tenar's background help her to help Tehanu navigate this?
Fandom: This Is New Gehesran Calling - Rebecca Fraimow
Characters: Any character from the story and/or worldbuilding
I did not request characters for this one, but if you want to use any characters from the original story, please do. What I want is some more of those ~diaspora feels~ and you're welcome to explore that either through the canonical characters or OCs. I'd love to learn more about New Gehesran culture, the specifics of why it fell and why all the characters are in exile, further bonding via pirate radio, other ways the exiles keep New Gehesran culture alive, etc.
Fandom: Chalice - Robin McKinley
Characters: Mirasol, Liapnir, Bees, Worldbuilding
I lovelovelove Mirasol, Liapnir, and the worldbuilding of this book. I really don't feel like you can go wrong here--if you focus on any of those things, I will be so happy. I request that the focus be either on Mirasol (with Liapnir and/or Bees along for the ride) OR be focused on worldbuilding. If you choose worldbuilding and want to create an original Chalice/demesne and explore her...that's awesome! Go for it!
Just a couple of prompts for this one:
+ Canon divergence where Liapnir's brother doesn't send him to the fire monks and instead he and Mirasol end up dealing with life in their demesne under a brutal leader
+ Canon divergence where Liapnir hurts Mirasol more badly than he did in canon
+ Post-canon fic about Liapnir figuring out how to be human again or the two of them adjusting to marriage--that cannot be an easy thing when one of them hasn't been human for so long!
+ Anything at all about Mirasol growing into her powers, getting to know the Willowlands, etc.
+ Original Chalice!
Fandom: Seventy-Two Letters - Ted Chiang
Characters: Worldbuilding
This short story made me feel some kind of way. For HaShem’s sake, someone tell me what’s going on in the margins of this world! Either turn it Jewish or turn it queer, I’m not picky!
So the rich white dudes are busy turning Kabbalistic ideas about naming into a science for ends in capitalism or eugenics. Horrifying! But I do not believe that Jews are just sitting around pouting about how their holy exercise in mysticism is being misused. Is there a Marx figure who’s writing manifestos about how an intrinsically Jewish practice has been stolen by the worst of the goyim? Is there a Herzl figure searching for a political solution? Are there women demanding more egalitarian access to Kabbalah as a way of preserving it? Is there an overlap between Bund activism and the need to take back Kabbalah? Is an anarchist collective marrying the exploitation of the proletariat and the exploitation of intrinsically Jewish spirituality and getting really, really pissed off about it?
And what about the past? This has clearly been going on for some centuries (probably since the Renaissance?) so how has it affected the standing of Jewish communities in various parts of the world? Are they treated worse or better?
Alternately: I am not wild about this enforcement of the sexual binary! What is going on with trans people in this world????
Fandom: Life with Derek
Characters: Casey McDonald, Derek Venturi
I am but a simple Dasey shipper. Yes, I am basic. The way these two are so obsessed with each other but can't admit it because of Reasons is so delicious. I would prefer not to have a real AU for them--the fact that they've been living together for years and have all this history is what makes this ship so appealing to me, so I'm not interested in a story where they aren't stepsiblings. Something set during the show (I ignore the movie) or post-show would work equally well for me.
Prompts:
+ Anything with Derek being protective of Casey
+ Actually, anything with Casey being protective of Derek
+ Angsty pining!
+ Angsty pining followed by finally getting together!
+ Secretly banging and Not Talking About It (while pining)
+ I really am so basic about them!