Dear Yuletide Author 2023

[serephemeral]

Dear Yuletide Author,

 

Hi there! Thanks so much for the time and energy you are putting into this exchange. I wish you an ease-filled writing process, and I hope that you have as much fun writing this story as I will surely have reading it.

In this letter: some things I enjoy in stories, my DNWs, my requests, and 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, awesome! If your own inspiration wants to take you elsewhere, go for it!

Yuletide Mini-Challenges: Crueltide | Yuleporn
My ao3 username: serephemeral

Treats are welcome! 

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 delightfully awkward/occasionally painful situations. Characters learning and growing from the consequences of those choices. Stories that deal with the general theme of "well, well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions."
• Stories that weave hope into difficult or bittersweet circumstances.
• Also, stories about fucked up people doing fucked up things to one another and slowly becoming better. Traumatic situations and their fallout. Trauma that resolves by the end of the story; angsty stories that leave room for hope somewhere in the world of the story.
• Moments where characters show up for one another in little ways that demonstrate deep affection and care.
• Splashes of worldbuilding that convey the intricacy and vibrancy of the world beyond the story. Worldbuilding that focuses on mythology, history, and evolution of magical arts.
• AU space opera settings. Worldbuilding within those settings that gets into the intersections of magic and science + the history of space travel and exploration, and how these things interact with and re-shape existing mythologies.

Romance and Sex-Specific Likes

• 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 big emotional event, touch contact that leads to blushing/yearning.
• Romance tropes I enjoy: 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, falling in love/lust with a captive (or captor), hurt/comfort, power imbalances. Running away from feelings and slowly accepting those feelings. People understanding one another on a deep level and alternately wounding and healing each other through that understanding.
• I enjoy reading romance that features 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.
• Smutty things I like: Talking: dirty talk, talk that baits someone into sex, banter during sex. Touching: first touches, hand-holding, face-touching, fingers/palms on necks, backs, thighs, wrists, in hair. Kissing: gentle, rough, everything in between. Biting. Fucking: ass play, cunnilingus, fight sex, fingering, fisting, frotting/clothed sex, nonpenetrative sex, rough sex, pegging, scissoring, strap-ons, telepathy and mindfucking, fucking against a wall. Cocksucking and facefucking, particularly when a strap-on is involved. Light, medium, and heavy kink and bdsm (ropes and sensory deprivation = perennial delight); especially enjoy women domming. Dubcon of the variety that suggests both parties are really into it by the end of the encounter. Tentacles, oviposition, weird monster genitalia and monsterfucking. Rough sex that does not lead to serious or lasting injuries. Power dynamics and power play with clearly negotiated limits; power dynamics and power play that stops short of nonconsensual sex.  

DO NOT WANTS/DISLIKES

• Unrequested, canon-divergent prominent themes of discrimination or harm: things like abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), fatshaming, gender-based violence, harassment, homophobia, misogyny and gender discrimination, racism, rape, slavery, sexual assault, or transphobia.
• 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 or real-world AUs; unrequested crossovers.
• Suicide and/or death of a requested character.

Romance and Sex-Specific Dislikes

• Unrequested 24/7 d/s relationships, abuse, cruelty, excessive control, and/or excessive jealousy as features of a romance.
  
• Sex DNWs: 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.

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.

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 writing this story! On to my requests and prompts...

Crier's War Series - Nina Varela
I’ve requested Crier, Ayla, Queen Junn, and Dinara. Please feel welcome to focus on these characters in whatever combination you like. 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. Canon available for purchase.

General + Worldbuilding

There is so much in this canon that delights me. I came for the enemies-to-lovers f/f, and stayed for the richness of Nina Varela's world. Everything about the Automae, the process of Design and midwifery, the alchemical and magical lore, the sprinklings of ancient myth and legend are fascinating to me! I’m particularly interested in alchemy as it channels magic in this world, and would love to read more about the development of alchemy in a pre-or-post-canon setting.  

I'd deeply 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 very into 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? What are Junn and Dinara doing with their lives? Both Junn and Dinara are such strong-willed characters, and I'd love to know more about potential fallout from Junn's involvement with Dinara's mother's death.

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, and I'll be so excited to read any of them.

Shipping + Smut

Ayla/Crier: I'd enjoy reading a character study of these two via sex, particularly in the context of fic set several years after the end of the duology at a time when Ayla and Crier are having to navigate the worlds of politics and magic/alchemy as adults. I'd love to get a slice of the stressors on their relationship and how those stressors manifest in (and are worked out through) sex.

I'm also down for more fluffy directions! Proposal fic would be amazing: who proposes? how? is it flawlessly romantic? disastrously perfect? And, 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 Ayla and Crier deciding to become parents (to a human or Automa child, or both) is a delight to me.

Junn/Dinara: I’m really into the idea of an AU where Junn and Dinara have an epic enemies-to-lovers romance. In such a scenario, I'd be happy if things simply didn't work out between June and Storme or if he's still in the picture and they work out a nonmonogamous relationship. I’m absolutely down for the idea of Junn and Dinara having rough, passionate sex, Dinara domming June, and Junn being on the receiving end of shockingly gentle sex. I desperately want to see both of them in vulnerable, hot moments.

Dimension 20: A Court of Fey and Flowers
I’ve requested  Baroness Alven, Lady Sylmenar, Suntar, and Wuvvy. Please feel welcome to focus on these characters individually or together -- you don't have to feature all four, though I’d love it if at least two make it into the fic. I am also fine with you including other characters from the ACoFaF canon in the narrative in significant ways as long as their inclusion doesn't eclipse the request character/s you decide to feature. Canon available via subscription.

General + Worldbuilding

Suntar is such a quietly menacing character, and I'm so curious about what her life and experiences in the Unseelie Court have been like. What drives her? Does Suntar secretly yearn to make a love match? I'd LOVE to read a deep dive into Suntar's internal workings: her points of view over millennia of Blooms and fey life as she comes of age in her mother's court, and her impressions of and interactions with the Cousins over the years.

I think the question “what drives her” is one that I’m excited to apply to all of these characters. Wuvvy is such a deliciously loyal, messy person; I’d love to know more about why she is the way she is.

We don’t get to know Baroness Alven or Lady Sylmenar too well, and I’d also love to change that! If you have ideas about their roles in the courts, their relationships to established characters, their methods of politicking and gossiping and making alliances/matches, I’d have a blast reading something that meditates on that.

If you're into worldbuilding, fic that explores the wider world of the fey realm — the various courts (including ones we didn't see in the series), political intrigues, fey lore, romantic machinations -- would be a delight.

Shipping + Smut

I’m down to read any combination of shipping for my requested characters. Arranged marriage is a trope I'd love to see applied to a relationship between literally any of these characters, though I gotta admit that Suntar/Wuvvy is especially intriguing to me, particularly in a post-campaign setting. Enemies/rivals to lovers is especially appealing for these two!

Duskwalker Brides - Opal Reyne
I’ve requested Orpheus and Reia, and am open to character studies of either or fic that features both of them. Canon available for purchase.

General + Worldbuilding

So: I read this book and it unleashed my inner monsterfucker. I just adore weird, angsty Orpheus and spunky Reia, and would love to read character studies of either of them, or something that focuses on their relationship. I particularly enjoy moments when Reia gets feisty with Orpheus and goes on her own adventures, and moments when he gets very tender with her. I’m curious to know how their relationship continues to develop over time, and would really enjoy reading something where Reia gets to boss Orpheus around a bit. 

Shipping + Smut

As I said, I read this book and it unleashed my inner monsterfucker. If you want to write some hot monster sex, I’m here for it. I’m particularly interested in Reia getting a little toppy; I’m curious about what it would be like for Orpheus to be on the receiving end of some weird giant dick, and would love to read something that shifts the dynamic of their relationship in that direction. I would prefer something that does not involve or end in pregnancy.

Neopets
I’ve requested Illusion and Jhudora, and prefer fic that features both of them. Canon available here-ish.

General + Worldbuilding

These two are just such a classic throwback pairing that I had to bring back my historic request this year. I don't keep up with Neopets as scrupulously as I used to, but I understand there's been some recent developments with these two; if you're up to date on that, please feel welcome to work it in! 

 

A while back I started thinking about Illusen and Jhudora as two powerful, scheming faerie queens pitting their courts against one another, and I haven't really stopped thinking about it. The idea "Illusen and Jhudora, rival fey TikTok stars edition" has been bouncing around in my mind for YEARS. This is one canon where I'm very into the idea of weird modern-day/real-world AUs, so if you have an idea along those lines, run with it!

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.

Oz - L. Frank Baum
I’ve requested Dorothy, Ozma, Glinda, and Polychrome. 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. Canon available for free.

General + Worldbuilding

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?

(Also, I'm 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.)

I’m fascinated by Glinda as an adult figure in Oz and would be so down to read a character study of her, something that really gets at what it must be like to be such a powerful magic user, someone who has endless knowledge available to her, and the kind of responsibility and strain that can bring.

 

Similarly, Polychrome has always struck me as a character whose various belongings and unbelongings beg to be considered. To me, it she doesn't quite belong on the ground, but she also doesn't quite belong on the rainbow; I'd love to know where and how she finds her place in the midst of things. I'm also just down for iddy character fic, so if you've got a Polychrome story you want to tell, I'm in! 

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 to fall in love with the ruler of all Oz? What would it be like to fall 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 from tender, sweet kisses and gentle fucking to them getting rough and kinky with each other.

I'm also down for reading romance and sex involving Glinda and/or Polychrome, either solo or with another character. If you have ot3 ideas or are led in a particular direction involving any of these characters, go for it! 

 

The Widow's Captive - Logandria
I’ve requested the Widow, the Widow's Captive, and Worldbuilding. Please feel welcome to focus on these characters and/or the world in whatever combination you like. Canon available for free with slightly variant information here, here, and here.

General + Worldbuilding
DNW Note: For this canon, I am fine with including themes of abuse and harassment in fic.  

I am simply in love with the sumptuous world this scarf offers up. Who is the Widow, and how came she to her nest? How did she come by her vast and varied collection of objects? We're told the Captive is a young noblewoman who foolishly attempted to navigate the Widow's lair and was caught in the web -- what drew her there? What are the circumstances and dynamics of the world outside this web, this lair? What happens immediately preceding the scene we're shown... and what happens after? 

Shipping + Smut
DNW Note: This is a canon where I'm down for dynamics I often DNW -- specifically, cruelty, excessive control, 24/7 d/s relationships, and very unequal power dynamics. I can imagine this pairing featuring those dynamics in very satisfying ways, and in this instance, I waive those specific DNWs. I am down to read some fucked-up filth!

I love the eroticism of this image: the single tear and the single drip are just *chef's kiss.* I love the aspects of bondage, dominance, discipline, and submission, the explicit imagery of silken ties. I'd love to read hot dirty sex between these two, and I have a special soft spot for filthy sex that turns into tender intimacy. I can't help loving a dynamic that starts out a little fucked up and ends in piercing-but-soft romance, and it super appeals when applied to these two characters.