Yuletide 2020: Dear Author Letter

[serephemeral]

Dear Yuletide Author,

Hi there! I'm so delighted you're here, and so grateful for the time and energy you are putting into this exchange. I wish you an easy and joyous writing process, and hope that you have as much fun writing this story as I will surely have reading it! 

In this letter: some things I like in stories; my DNWs; my requests; some prompts. With the exception of my DNWs, please take or leave these as is most useful to you in your creative process. If you're really excited about a prompt of mine, hurray! If inspiration strikes and your own muse wants to take you in a different direction, go with it and have fun! 

My ao3 username: serephemeral

LIKES

• Character-driven narratives, stories driven equally by plot and character, plotty stories with lots of juicy character development.
• Queer stories. I am bi/queer and have a giant soft spot for tender, nuanced portrayals of queer identities and queer love.
• Women loving each other, whether platonically, romantically, sexually, complicatedly, or all of the above.
• Characters making messy life choices that land them in delightful -- and sometimes awkward or painful -- binds. Characters learning and growing from the consequences of those choices.
• Happy stories. Gentle, cozy stories. Stories that weave hope into difficult or bittersweet circumstances. Stories about healing from trauma that don't do incredibly deep dives into the trauma. 
• Moments where characters show up for one another in little ways that demonstrate deep affection and care (e.g., brewing a pot of someone's favorite tea if they're in a stressful situation)
• Splashes of worldbuilding that convey the intricacy and vibrancy of the world beyond the story.
• AU space opera settings.

Romance and Sex-Specific Likes 

• I love to read about people falling in love and in lust. A few dynamics I enjoy: banter, banter that leads to deep conversations, characters being very competent at what they do and admiring each other's competence, characters holding one another after a positive or negative emotional event, touch contact that leads to blushing/yearning.
• Romance tropes I enjoy: good old fashioned slowburn. Pining. Desire that builds like a thunderstorm and then -- boom! Rivalmances. Enemies to lovers. Fake dating/marriage to real dating/marriage. Falling in love/lust with the mark.
• I enjoy reading about monogamy, ethical non-monogamy, and polyamory. My polyamory taste tends toward ot3s or foursomes simply because my brain sometimes has difficulty keeping track of larger polycules in fic.
• Some smutty things I like: touching -- first touches, hand-holding, face-touching, fingers/palms on necks, backs, thighs, wrists, in hair. Kissing (gentle, rough, everything in between). Biting. Fucking: cunnilingus, fingering, fisting, strap-on sex, pegging. I am perhaps in a minority of people who actually find scissoring hot, but...scissoring. One character being held against a wall while another fucks them. Tentacles. Light to medium kink and bdsm (ropes and sensory deprivation = perennial delight); heavier kink as specified in prompts. Rough sex that does not lead to serious or lasting injuries. Power dynamics and power play with clearly negotiated limits where safewords are respected.

DO NOT WANT

• Stories that incorporate unrequested prominent themes of ableism, abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), fatshaming, gender-based violence, harassment, homophobia, misogyny and gender discrimination, racism, rape, slavery, sexual assault, or transphobia. Stories that objectify or shame characters with disabilities and chronic illnesses.
• Graphic descriptions of violence and gore. Mentions of violence and wounds or injuries is okay; please no graphic, detailed descriptions.
• Forced religious conversion.
• High school, college, or coffee shop AUs. Unrequested modern-day AUs. Unrequested crossovers.
• Suicide.
• Death of a requested character.
• Fic that takes place during a pandemic; quarantine as a plot point.
• In general, I do not enjoy reading grimdark stories and trauma porn.

Romance and Sex-Specific Do Not Wants 

• Adult/minor romantic or sexual relationships.
• Misogyny as a feature of an m/m relationship or romance.
• Unrequested abuse, cruelty, excessive control, and/or excessive jealousy as features of a romance.
• Incest.
• Infidelity.
• 24/7 d/s relationships; age play; a/b/o; daddy or mommy kink; fetishized fatness or weight; forced and/or fetishized pregnancy; master/slave relationships; misogyny in erotic play; rape/noncon; scat; sex acts that incorporate food outside of foreplay (happy if Partner A feeds Partner B a grape during a romantic dinner/while in bed; do not like whipped cream trails over bodies, fruit inserted into bodily orifices during sex, Cosmo-tips scenarios for incorporating food into sex); watersports; women sucking men's cocks.

If a character has experienced any of the things mentioned in my DNWs as part of their canon storyline, I am fine with this being referenced and used as part of their character arc as long as it is not the primary driver of the plot and/or new elements of character development. (I have one major exception to this that applies to The Marriage of Aphrodite and Hephaestus - see prompt for further details.) 

Same for worldbuilding/universe consistency; if a canon I've requested has elements of any of the above as part of in-universe worldbuilding, please don't feel like you need to break the world in order to write me fic -- I'm fine if said elements are still a part of the world so long as they aren't a huge, central focus of the story. I request and strongly prefer that no new storylines with elements from my DNWs be added. 

Thank you so much for your care in writing this story. On to my requests and prompts! 

 

Crier's War Duology - Nina Varela (Crier's War, Iron Heart). Listed as Crier's War Trilogy in tag set.

I’ve requested Crier, Ayla, Junn, and Storme. Please feel welcome to focus on these characters in whatever combination you like - you don't have to feature all four, but I would prefer at least two being featured in the fic. I am also fine with you including other characters from the Crier’s War duology (Crier’s War, Iron Heart) in the narrative as long as their inclusion doesn't eclipse the role of the requested characters. 

Note: spoilers for Iron Heart below.

General 

There is so much in this canon that delights me. I love, love, love Nina Varela's worldbuilding: the Automae, the process of Design and midwifery, the alchemical and magical lore, the sprinklings of ancient myth and legend! And, of course, the utter sapphistry of this story. 

I recently finished Iron Heart, and I'm bursting with curiosity about what might happen next. I'd enjoy anything from small snapshots of post-Treaty-of-Thalen life to sprawling political drama as Rabu, Varn, and Tarreen navigate the shifts in power on the continent of Zulla. I'm so drawn to the idea of Ayla developing her alchemical knowledge and pursuing training as a Maker or a Midwife, and oh, the potential for her to keep digging into the mystery of H. and Thomas Wren...

What else: how might Crier continue to blossom as a weaver of stories and a driving force in shifting Automae relationships to power? It's probably not helpful for me to write that I want to know about Junn's everything, but -- god, every decision Junn makes fascinates me and I just want to get inside her brain and heart and bask in the sharp, the stoic, the messy, the deeply guarded tenderness. 

In short: Political epic? Yes. Slice-of-life? Yes. Quest to refine the art of making alchemical robot hearts? Yes. This feels like a canon that could take on a million different wildly satisfying forms in fic, and I'll be so excited to read any of them. 

This is a fandom where I'd prefer no real-world AUs, if possible. 

Shipping + Smut 

Ayla/Crier: wife goals. I long for proposal fic (who proposes? how? is it flawlessly romantic? disastrously perfect?). WEDDING FIC. If you're inclined to write about years-into-the-future Ayla and Crier, this is one canon where I'd be truly excited to read babyfic. Imagining the process of Ayla and Crier deciding to become parents (to a human or Automa child, or both) is a delight to me. 

I'd also be very down to read first time fic, honeymoon fic, fuck-in-the-library-fic...

Junn/Storme: there's so much to these two and their relationship that goes on behind the scenes. We know a little about how they met and how their relationship developed, but there's so much room to imagine how they fell in love -- and how they stay in love. I desperately want to see Junn in vulnerable moments with Storme, and how Storme loves and supports her when they can let the facades drop and just be. 

Also: Junn pegging Storme. Storme going down on Junn. Junn and Storme gently fucking. Junn domming Storme. Junn domming anyone.

(Also also: kicking myself for not finishing Iron Heart before nominations ended and nominating Dinara to be in the tagset, because -- WHEW, am I desperate to read Dinara/Junn. Next year. But if you read this and you, too, wish for Dinara/Junn...I am 100% here for it.) 

 

 

Jolene - Dolly Parton (Song)

I’ve requested Jolene, Man, and Narrator. I would prefer at least the Narrator and/or Jolene be featured, but please feel welcome to focus on whatever character combination works best for you. I am also fine with you including other characters as long as their inclusion doesn't eclipse any of the canon characters.

General 

So: to be honest, I have one big prompt for this fandom. I debated whether I should go for it, but it's so juicy and has been tormenting me all week, and I can't resist putting it out into the world. As always, if you have other inspiration, these optional details are optional. I love this song and sapphic takes on it, and I'll be delighted to read whatever you land on! But here's what I've got... 

Consider: Jolene the fey queen. Her domain coincides with a mortal realm -- perhaps near Sevier County, Tennessee, or somewhere very similar? Mortals know not to pass through a certain holler during the wrong phase of the moon, or during a too-hot July evening when the cicadas sing just so. But the Narrator's Man does it. Maybe he's doing something rash; maybe he has his reasons. At any rate, he becomes beholden to Jolene, fey queen of incomparable beauty, who now has the right to take him away to her magical realm...and thus, the content of the song. Leaving me to wonder: what happens next? What kind of fey realm is adjacent to Sevier County, Tennessee or somewhere very like it? Why is Jolene the Fey Queen entitled to take someone who passes through the holler in the wrong way at the wrong time? If Jolene is entitled to take someone, does the Narrator volunteer to go in her Man's stead, and does Jolene accept? 

Which leads me to...

Shipping + Smut 

I'm so here for Jolene/Narrator. I feel like this is yet another instance of my step on my neck/beautiful and terrible as the dawn/all shall love her and despair proclivities making themselves known, but danged if this song doesn't lend itself to them! If you're inspired by the idea of Jolene the Fey Queen, I am obsessed with the idea of slowburn rivalmance or complicated Beauty and the Beast style "I'll stay in your realm but I WON'T fall in love with you...oops, dammit, I'm totally in love with you" fic. Southern gothic fey romance, if you will.

 

The Marriage of Aphrodite and Hephaestus (Greek Mythology) 

I’ve requested Aphrodite and Hephaestus. I would prefer both characters be featured in the fic. I am also fine with you including other characters from Greek myth as long as their inclusion doesn't eclipse any of the canon characters.

General

I remember reading various translations/interpretations of Aphrodite and Hephaestus as a child and teen and rooting for them. I really enjoyed both of them (what isn't to like about the goddess of love and the god of smiths and various artisans?) and I kept wishing that the stories I read would have happier endings, or at least gentler dealings with both of them. I suppose that's always what I've wanted for these two: retellings of the stories I read as a child that let them deal more kindly with one another, or let them forge a powerful bond (romantic or platonic) and support one another in their passions and pursuits. 

Also: there's a special place in my heart for genderfluid/genderbent/genderswapped Hephaestus. If writing Hephaestus as a muscular disabled goddess or nonbinary deity at her/their volcano forge is something that appeals to you, please go for it! 

My major canon-specific DNW: in some myths, both of these characters have storylines that involve rape and/or emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. I ask that these elements not be mentioned or included in this story. 

Shipping + Smut 

I long for these two to get to be in love and tender with one another. Aphrodite watching Hephaestus work and falling in love with the craft and with Hephaestus would be so delightful. This is a pairing where I find the idea of consensual rope play/restraints really, really hot.

 

Neopets 

I’ve requested Aethia, Balthazar, Illusen, Jhudora. Please feel welcome to focus on these characters in whatever combination you like - you don't have to feature all four, but I would prefer at least two being featured in the fic. I am also fine with you including other canonical characters from the world of Neopets in the narrative as long as their inclusion doesn't eclipse whichever of these four you'd like to feature.

General 

Prior to a couple of months ago, I hadn't logged into Neopets dot com for...a decade? I only half-remembered that the site existed until this August, when that viral Neopets nostalgia/former scammer thread hit twitter. And then, because 2020, I thought: why not go back? For distraction and for old time's sake?

And, well. Here we are. 

I'll be honest: most of my prompts for this fandom are overtly shippy. That being said, a more general dynamic I'm into is Illusen and Jhudora as two powerful, scheming faerie queens pitting their courts against one another. As I think about it, I'm wildly intrigued by AU potentials: Illusen and Jhudora and their courts...space opera style? Illusen and Jhudora...rival fey TikTok stars edition? (I'm way more into that last one than I intended. Oops.)

Shipping + Smut 

Illusen/Jhudora: the potential for rivalmance or enemies-to-lovers is so strong with these two. They are all up in each other's business, always knowing if you've done a quest for the other one. Asking for items that feature each other. Canon items like this. Are they bitter exes? Pining rivals? Secretly happy lovers putting on an act for the world?

Shippy fic ideas off the top of my head: Illusen and Jhudora have to work together to solve a problem and whoops, they fall into bed together in the process. Queen Fyora orders them to get married for Plot Device reasons and whoops, they actually fall in love (and in bed together). Villain shows up wounded on the hero's doorstep and gasps "I didn't know where else to go" before collapsing ? This (or the reverse)...would work for me in the context of these two. 

Aethia/Balthazar or Balthazar/any of my requested faeries: So. Fairly soon after I started playing Neopets again, I was doing something and up popped the notification that I had a new challenger waiting for me in the Battledome. This notification, to be precise. (Here is a canon Neopedia entry on Balthazar.) 

When I read this, something rather unexpected and deeply kinky awoke in me. I was like, huh. That's...that's pretty hot, actually? Would read fic of this anthropomorphic dog hunter chasing down faeries and engaging in some kinky sex? 2020, you are full of surprises.

So...yes. Would read fic of this anthropomorphic dog faerie hunter chasing down a faerie and engaging in kinky sex! I requested Aethia because the idea of this Battledome opponent chasing down the Battle faerie was appealing, but I'm happy for any or all of my requested faeries to feature. I can imagine this being a consensual chase dynamic with very clearly negotiated limits, or a fall in love/lust with the mark situation...whichever appeals! If you're inclined to write smut, I'm happy if this is on the rougher side -- biting to draw blood and light to medium descriptions of that would be okay, for example -- but do ask that heavy-to-graphic gore not be included. Also happy if the faerie in question gets to turn the tables on Balthazar once they're caught, if that's something that interests you -- I can imagine Aethia enjoying the dynamic of being hunted as prey and then flipping the dynamic to domme Balthazar! 

Oz - L. Frank Baum 

I’ve requested Dorothy and Ozma. Please feel welcome to focus on these characters individually or together. I am also fine with you including other characters from the Oz canon in the narrative as long as their inclusion doesn't eclipse these two.

General 

I love the whimsy of Oz, the cheery fantastic and the razor's-edge danger that come with living in and loving Oz. Tonally, I'd love to read something that is very rooted in the Oz of L. Frank Baum's series, but that tackles mature themes. I'm perpetually curious about magic in Oz -- how it functions, how magic users learn to tap into their power, what it feels like to wield that power, and connections with elements and specific geographic locations. This is a fandom where I'd prefer no modern-day real-world AUs, if possible. 

Internal canon can often be wildly inconsistent, and although we don't really witness any of the characters who are young in the series maturing much beyond childhood/adolescence, I've long wondered about how older versions of Dorothy and Ozma would experience their world. Do they become fiercely protective of one another? Tender and gentle-hearted peacemakers? Magic users who are beautiful and terrible as the dawn, all shall love them and despair? A little of all of the above?

I'm also very down to read fic that reflects on Ozma's gender in a joyful, nontraumatic context. Trans woman Ozma/genderqueer femme Ozma are so important to me.

Shipping + Smut 

Dorothy/Ozma: I long to know how these two realize they are in love. Mutual pining would be so, so good for me. The possibility of shipfic set amidst a lightly political plot is appealing to me. What would it be like, falling in love with the ruler of all Oz? What would it be like, falling in love with the Dorothy Gale? Have they always known, or is it something that happens gradually for both of them, and each one thinks it'll be impossible because of their responsibilities/because the other doesn't feel the same way and they don't want to ruin things?

I would love to read the two of them doing things like soft queer rituals of hair-brushing and styling, sitting with each other and talking about feelings, dressing (and undressing) each other in soft silk gowns -- and/or hard queer femmes Dorothy and Ozma kicking magical ass, getting a little bruised and battered, kissing in the heat of adventure. I'd enjoy a wide variety of smut with them! Anything fro tender, sweet kisses and gentle fucking to them getting rough and kinky with each other. 

 

The Turner Series - Courtney Milan 

I’ve requested Ash, Mark, Richard, and Smite. Please feel welcome to focus on these characters in whatever combination you like - you don't have to feature all four, but I would prefer at least two being featured in the fic. I am also fine with you including other characters from the Turner Series in the narrative as long as their inclusion doesn't eclipse the role of the requested characters. 

General 

Ah, the Turner Series. The romance novels that got me into reading Regency-era romance novels, only for me to wish for an infinite series of novels about the Turner brothers and the women in their lives! This is a fandom where I'd prefer no modern-day AUs, if possible. 

Thinking in terms of gen fic, here’s what has come to mind: fic about a time when Richard and Smite had a pleasant day together just being good friends, either during their time in school or post-Unraveled. Fic of Ash, Mark, and Smite being brotherly, possibly in the context of Ash having a toddler and Mark and Smite (and Richard!) figuring out how to be uncles. A comic hijinks fic involving all of the brothers trying to put together a party/a gift/a Plot Device of Choice for their wives/significant others, and everything goes wrong until it goes very right. 

Shipping + Smut 

Richard/Smite: the pairing I hoped against hope would become part of a canonical ot3. I am desperate for Richard/Smite content! I have long wished for Richard and Smite: Bitter Exes Fall In Love And Make it Work fic. Also, would I yell for joy at Richard and Smite gently, sweetly, perhaps somewhat awkwardly losing their virginity together? Yes, in a heartbeat. Would I swoon at Richard comforting Smite after night terrors? IN A HEARTBEAT. Would I vibrate out of my chair at Richard and Smite deciding to face their long-simmering feelings, very complicated past, and unresolved sexual tension, either in an AU setting or with Miranda's blessing? In a heartbeat. Writer, if you want to get these dudes a room, Just The One Bed, and some lube, I am all in. (My one big request that if Richard/Smite happens in a post-canon universe, Miranda knows and is totally fine with/encourages it! I would prefer that Smite not cheat on Miranda; AUs where they're in a companionate marriage or where they're just friends also totally work for me with Richard/Smite shipfic.)