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Yuletide 2020 Letter
Oct. 25th, 2020 11:31 pmHello Yuletide Writer!
I'm so excited that you're writing for me - I would be thrilled to read anything in any of these worlds, so write whatever you think sounds fun! I don't have any DNWs except within my note on darkfics below. A haphazard list of my broad likes follows:
- Worldbuilding: I love big expansive worlds, so anything you can add would be welcome! I much prefer fics in the original world rather than AUs, but canon-divergence is completely fine.
- Characters that go through all hell for the sake of the story: I love seeing my favorite characters torn apart and the following exploration of how they deal with the trauma and change because of it (see note on darkfic preferences below)
- Complex interactions and relationships between characters
- Nonsexual relationships that blur the line between friendship and romance (also polyamory/ any kind of non-traditional relationship structure is great)
- Fanfiction that preserves the writing style of the original
- Missing scenes and post-canon
- Sacrifice in any form: the reasons why (guilt, pain, love, strength, responsibility, etc.) as well as what follows after
- The importance of fighting and persisting and struggling in its own right, even when there seems to be no hope
- The ways we honor memory / the past and the things and people we've lost
I give you permission to write darkfic of all kinds, and to let your imagination run loose - I'm explicitly letting you get as dark as you want with this! I LOVE when my favorite characters are put through hell, and I love the exploration of how different characters react and recover in the wake of horrific trauma. Also I generally love kink/BDSM/power dynamics.
Things I like include (trigger warning!): violence, torture, rape, non-con, betrayal, medical experimentation, captivity/slavery, body horror, PTSD, trauma recovery, D/S power dynamics, manipulation and coercion, BDSM
DNW: infidelity, humiliation kink, Omegaverse, mpreg, necrophilia, bestiality
However, I do not like reading things that focus wholly on sex. It's okay as a plot point or a tool, and I don't mind when sex is included, but I wouldn't want to be reading a whole sex scene. I love to see explorations of torture, BDSM, etc in a mainly nonsexual context (as in sexual acts can be a component but not the end goal).
Now, for more fandom-specific thoughts:
Starless: (Any characters)
This is the one fandom of the three I've requested for which I'd prefer something not terribly dark. I don't have much more specific guidance to give for this one because I would be happy with whatever you give me - there's so much to be curious about. This world is so expansive and beautiful, and Carey showed us only a small fraction of it! What else is going on? Write the story you want to read!
Some ideas you could consider: How do Khai and Zariya's relationship change as they slowly age and outlive their friends? What does their relationship with Jahno look like going forward from the end of the book? What are some of the adventures they undertake and people they meet as they create their collection of stories? Show me more of the Elehuddin, the history of Papa-ka-Hondras, how the worship of the gods changes over time, or the journeys Jahno and Evene and the rest took before everyone united to save the world. Any and all worldbuilding and exploration of these wonderful characters is very welcome.
Realm of the Elderlings: Fitz and the Fool
I first read all the RotE books in 2016-2017, and absolutely bawled my eyes out through the entirety of Assassin's Fate. These two characters have stolen my heart. Their dynamic is fascinating to me, if at times infuriating! Fitz can be so ridiculously dense sometimes (or all the time…), ending up hurting the Fool by perpetually holding him at arm's length even when they are bound together so tightly by their shared experiences and suffering. Feel free to write these characters at any point in their lives, whatever most calls to you - I'm just looking for an exploration of/ expansion upon their relationship in canon.
I'd love to read some version of Fitz actually being open to the unselfish and unconditional love that the Fool offers him, with each opening up to the other more than they ever did explicitly in canon. You could write something quiet and contemplative that shows them in a rare moment of calm amid the chaos of their lives, or show them fighting for their lives, as they so often end up doing, or write several vignettes tracking the deepening of their relationship through time.
I would also welcome some darkfic with these two! Fitz is a prime example of my aforementioned penchant for loving stories that put the main characters through all kinds of torment, but the Fool certainly doesn't get off lightly in these books, either. It seems that one or the other (or both!) of them is constantly being tortured then rescued by the other, so hurt/comfort would be an easy trope to follow here. Of course I'm super up for both of them being tortured and having to find a way out of their situation together, as well!
I read the Fool as non-binary and/or intersex, so I would request not explicitly assigning the Fool any particular body parts. I don't have a preference on what pronouns you use. On a related note, I go back and forth on whether I read the Fool as asexual or not, so feel free to keep things platonic or add a little something more as you prefer- whatever floats your boat!
Kushiel's Legacy: Phedre and Melisande
I love the complex relationship between these two women, particularly the intensity of their interactions and the power dynamics involved. Since sex isn't my favorite thing, I would prefer a greater focus on the psychological/political manipulations Melisande orchestrates and their effect on Phedre rather than the physical acts that take place between them, but anything you'd like to write between these two would be great! I so felt Melisande's power as a character when reading, and want more of that D/S vibe in any form! Explore the simultaneous guilt/ hatred/ desire/ submissive instinct Phedre feels towards Melisandre, and the struggle between the analytical part of her trying to find her way out and/or figure out what's going on and the part of her that is simply overwhelmed by Melisande's presence. Feel free to set the fic in any time or place in the series, with any other characters involved as well, I just request that the relationship between these two be the focus.
I'm so excited that you're writing for me - I would be thrilled to read anything in any of these worlds, so write whatever you think sounds fun! I don't have any DNWs except within my note on darkfics below. A haphazard list of my broad likes follows:
- Worldbuilding: I love big expansive worlds, so anything you can add would be welcome! I much prefer fics in the original world rather than AUs, but canon-divergence is completely fine.
- Characters that go through all hell for the sake of the story: I love seeing my favorite characters torn apart and the following exploration of how they deal with the trauma and change because of it (see note on darkfic preferences below)
- Complex interactions and relationships between characters
- Nonsexual relationships that blur the line between friendship and romance (also polyamory/ any kind of non-traditional relationship structure is great)
- Fanfiction that preserves the writing style of the original
- Missing scenes and post-canon
- Sacrifice in any form: the reasons why (guilt, pain, love, strength, responsibility, etc.) as well as what follows after
- The importance of fighting and persisting and struggling in its own right, even when there seems to be no hope
- The ways we honor memory / the past and the things and people we've lost
I give you permission to write darkfic of all kinds, and to let your imagination run loose - I'm explicitly letting you get as dark as you want with this! I LOVE when my favorite characters are put through hell, and I love the exploration of how different characters react and recover in the wake of horrific trauma. Also I generally love kink/BDSM/power dynamics.
Things I like include (trigger warning!): violence, torture, rape, non-con, betrayal, medical experimentation, captivity/slavery, body horror, PTSD, trauma recovery, D/S power dynamics, manipulation and coercion, BDSM
DNW: infidelity, humiliation kink, Omegaverse, mpreg, necrophilia, bestiality
However, I do not like reading things that focus wholly on sex. It's okay as a plot point or a tool, and I don't mind when sex is included, but I wouldn't want to be reading a whole sex scene. I love to see explorations of torture, BDSM, etc in a mainly nonsexual context (as in sexual acts can be a component but not the end goal).
Now, for more fandom-specific thoughts:
Starless: (Any characters)
This is the one fandom of the three I've requested for which I'd prefer something not terribly dark. I don't have much more specific guidance to give for this one because I would be happy with whatever you give me - there's so much to be curious about. This world is so expansive and beautiful, and Carey showed us only a small fraction of it! What else is going on? Write the story you want to read!
Some ideas you could consider: How do Khai and Zariya's relationship change as they slowly age and outlive their friends? What does their relationship with Jahno look like going forward from the end of the book? What are some of the adventures they undertake and people they meet as they create their collection of stories? Show me more of the Elehuddin, the history of Papa-ka-Hondras, how the worship of the gods changes over time, or the journeys Jahno and Evene and the rest took before everyone united to save the world. Any and all worldbuilding and exploration of these wonderful characters is very welcome.
Realm of the Elderlings: Fitz and the Fool
I first read all the RotE books in 2016-2017, and absolutely bawled my eyes out through the entirety of Assassin's Fate. These two characters have stolen my heart. Their dynamic is fascinating to me, if at times infuriating! Fitz can be so ridiculously dense sometimes (or all the time…), ending up hurting the Fool by perpetually holding him at arm's length even when they are bound together so tightly by their shared experiences and suffering. Feel free to write these characters at any point in their lives, whatever most calls to you - I'm just looking for an exploration of/ expansion upon their relationship in canon.
I'd love to read some version of Fitz actually being open to the unselfish and unconditional love that the Fool offers him, with each opening up to the other more than they ever did explicitly in canon. You could write something quiet and contemplative that shows them in a rare moment of calm amid the chaos of their lives, or show them fighting for their lives, as they so often end up doing, or write several vignettes tracking the deepening of their relationship through time.
I would also welcome some darkfic with these two! Fitz is a prime example of my aforementioned penchant for loving stories that put the main characters through all kinds of torment, but the Fool certainly doesn't get off lightly in these books, either. It seems that one or the other (or both!) of them is constantly being tortured then rescued by the other, so hurt/comfort would be an easy trope to follow here. Of course I'm super up for both of them being tortured and having to find a way out of their situation together, as well!
I read the Fool as non-binary and/or intersex, so I would request not explicitly assigning the Fool any particular body parts. I don't have a preference on what pronouns you use. On a related note, I go back and forth on whether I read the Fool as asexual or not, so feel free to keep things platonic or add a little something more as you prefer- whatever floats your boat!
Kushiel's Legacy: Phedre and Melisande
I love the complex relationship between these two women, particularly the intensity of their interactions and the power dynamics involved. Since sex isn't my favorite thing, I would prefer a greater focus on the psychological/political manipulations Melisande orchestrates and their effect on Phedre rather than the physical acts that take place between them, but anything you'd like to write between these two would be great! I so felt Melisande's power as a character when reading, and want more of that D/S vibe in any form! Explore the simultaneous guilt/ hatred/ desire/ submissive instinct Phedre feels towards Melisandre, and the struggle between the analytical part of her trying to find her way out and/or figure out what's going on and the part of her that is simply overwhelmed by Melisande's presence. Feel free to set the fic in any time or place in the series, with any other characters involved as well, I just request that the relationship between these two be the focus.
