do i contradict myself?

Hi there!! Thank you so much for writing for me -- I'm preemptively stoked to read whatever you write! Yuletide has been my fandom happy place for a long time, and after the two most chaotic holiday seasons of my entire life in a row, I'm thrilled to be back at it with my whole heart. Which is to say, I always say that I'll love whatever story my author writes me, but I'm especially poised to mean it this year, so: while I hope you'll find a way to fit my likes, preferences, and suggestions into a story you love writing, the "story you love writing" part is the most important thing to me. So I hope you'll find an idea you're enthusiastic about and write me something that you had a blast with, because that way I know I'll love it too!!

In terms of things I'd ideally want out of a fic, though, broadly speaking, I love character- rather than plot-driven stories (not that the two can't happily coexist, of course, but my favorite stories tend to follow an emotional arc or a relationship development rather than characters dealing with an external conflict or a really intricate plot) with happy or at least hopeful endings (I'm fine with a more bittersweet hinting-at-the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel type ambiguity, but would strongly prefer more overt happiness, and I really and truly do NOT want any serious or lasting tragedy involved).

My major DNWs are needles (I have a huge phobia and would deeply rather no mention of them at all, but if it does come up, please please please keep it brief and be sure to clearly warn for me!) and significant involvement of serious issues beyond those explored in canon (e.g. racism, homophobia, character death, serious assault/injury, etc. etc.). Basically, let the tone of canon be your guide here -- canon-typical serious issues the characters have already experienced is totally fine, bringing more serious issues into a lighthearted canon would very much not be my jam.

More generally, here are some of my likes and dislikes:

Likes: banter, UST/pining/slow burn, first kisses/makeouts that don't immediately lead to sex (either by design or by accidental interruption), fluffy ridiculous romcom-y tropes, people being very competent at what they do (and other people enjoying it), little canon easter eggs, found families, intricate tangles of relationships among large groups of people, cute animals, puns, and the general concept of hope and humanity's essential goodness triumphing over darkness and existential despair! (Especially this year, oh dear god.) (That extra note originated in 2020 but let's just call it a now ever-present feeling! Sob.)

Dislikes: misogyny in m/m relationships/demonization of female characters for the sake of m/m, misogynistic dirty talk (e.g., "slut"/"whore"), noncon/dubcon, infidelity, excessive jealousy/possessiveness, excessive kinky elements, A/B/O, mpreg, daddy kink, first- or second-person POV, and contrived miscommunication conflicts that could be resolved with a single, simple statement of clarification!

I generally tend to be a fan of both AUs and explicit porn, but my preferences will differ based on fandom, so I'll include specific notes regarding my feelings re both in each fandom's prompt section!

Some additional references include my trope sorter and kink sorter results -- the rankings should be treated pretty flexibly, as the first half-dozen or so on each list are all pretty close together in terms of things I love! I am also blindmadness on AO3.

All right, enough preamble--let's talk fandoms!!

( Palm Springs (2020) )

( The Proposal (2009) )

( Ocean's 8 (2018) )

( The Princess Diaries (Movies) )

( Miracle Workers: Season 1 (2019) )

Hello hello!! Can you believe it's this time again?! I look forward to Yuletide with overwhelming impatience and joy every year, and this time it really both feels like it took forever to get here and absolutely sprang up on us (ah, the liminal nature of 2021!). But I'm so happy it's here, and I'm so happy you'll be writing for me! I like to start every year with the disclaimer that I love Yuletide a lot, and I hope that you love it too, and that if you wholeheartedly enjoy the story you write, I'm going to be sure to love it as well. I tend to write longer, slightly rambly-er letters, so I hope that doesn't put you off; what I want most is a fic that you love and had a great time writing. So if that takes you somewhat sideways to what I've written here, embrace it! I only have a couple of firm DNWs, but otherwise I'm always delighted to receive any fic at all for the tiny fandoms I've been excited about requesting for months, so please bring it on -- I can't wait to see what you come up with. ♥

In terms of more specific guidance, though: broadly speaking, the things usually I want out of Yuletide are character- rather than plot-driven stories (not that the two can't happily coexist, of course, but my favorite stories tend to follow an emotional arc or a relationship development rather than characters dealing with an external conflict or a really intricate plot) with happy or at least hopeful endings (I'm fine with a more bittersweet hinting-at-the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel type ambiguity, but would strongly prefer more overt happiness, and I really and truly do not want any serious or lasting tragedy involved).

My major DNWs are needles (I have a huge phobia and would deeply rather no mention of them at all, but if it does come up, please please please keep it brief and be sure to clearly warn for me!) and significant involvement of serious issues beyond those explored in canon (e.g. racism, homophobia, character death, serious assault/injury, etc. etc.). By "beyond those explored in canon," I mean, for example, that Darius from Darius the Great faces racism and homophobia in the books, as well as the death of a family member, so while I would prefer a story in that fandom not focus on any of those experiences, passing mention/minor involvement of them/reflection on his experiences with them wouldn't feel out of place or be too upsetting to me. But I would really not want a story where, say, the hot goth in the woods is actively going through the death of a family member or Justin and the Elf from the Oreo commercial encounter homophobia. (Even typing that sentence out feels very weird, ha.)

More generally, here are some of my likes and dislikes:

Likes: banter, UST/pining/slow burn, first kisses/makeouts that don't immediately lead to sex (either by design or by accidental interruption), gross fluffy ridiculous romcom-y tropes, people being very competent at what they do (and other people, ahem, enjoying it), little canon easter eggs, found families, intricate tangles of relationships among large groups of people, cute animals, puns, and the general concept of hope and humanity's essential goodness triumphing over darkness and existential despair! (Especially this year, oh dear god.) (I left this note in last year, but it's still true, tbh!)

Dislikes: misogyny in m/m relationships/demonization of female characters for the sake of m/m, misogynistic dirty talk (e.g., "slut"/"whore"), noncon/dubcon, infidelity, excessive jealousy/possessiveness, excessive kinky elements, A/B/O, mpreg, daddy kink, first- or second-person POV, and contrived miscommunication conflicts that could be resolved with a single, simple statement of clarification!

I generally tend to be a fan of both AUs and explicit porn, but my preferences will differ based on fandom, so I'll include specific notes regarding my feelings re both in each fandom's prompt section.

Some additional references include my trope sorter and kink sorter results -- the rankings should be treated pretty flexibly, as the first half-dozen or so on each list are all pretty close together in terms of things I love! I am also blindmadness on AO3.

So now that we've covered all of that -- on to the fandoms!

( Hot Goth in the Woods - JohannesTEvans (Tweet) )

( Oreo 'First Christmas' Commercial )

( Till We Meet Again - Dave Brosha (Photo Series) )

( Darius the Great Series - Adib Khorram )

( Once Upon a Time in Wonderland )

Hello hello, dearest author, and welcome to my letter! ♥ Let's get this out of the way early on: I absolutely love Yuletide, and it is my dearest wish to have everyone have as enjoyable and fun of an experience with it as I do. So if you get an idea you're really excited about and it doesn't quite fit with any of prompts below... look, follow your heart!! I think my requests are pretty flexible this year, and above all, what I really enjoy reading are stories that someone clearly really loved writing. So what I want to receive is a story you feel passionately about and that you had a great time writing. Everything else is secondary!

Now, having said that, let's get to the secondary content, shall we? :")

Broadly speaking, the things usually I want out of Yuletide are character- rather than plot-driven stories (not that the two can't happily coexist, of course, but my favorite stories tend to follow an emotional arc or a relationship development rather than characters dealing with an external conflict or a really intricate plot) with happy or at least hopeful endings (I'm fine with a more bittersweet hinting-at-the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel type ambiguity, but would strongly prefer more overt happiness, and I really and truly do not want any serious or lasting tragedy involved).

My major DNWs are needles (I have a huge phobia and would deeply rather no mention of them at all, but if it does come up, please please please keep it brief and be sure to clearly warn for me!) and serious issues beyond those explored in canon (e.g., racism, homophobia, character death, serious assault/injury, etc. etc.). By which I mean, say, there's quite a bit of fantastic racism in Carnival Row that certainly can't be sidestepped too much, so while I wouldn't want that to be too much of a focus, I'm fine with not having it entirely brushed over; on the other hand, any kind of homophobia and/or racism in a John Mulaney/Tan France story would definitely not be my jam!

More specifically, here are some overall likes and dislikes:

Likes: banter, UST/pining/slow burn, first kisses/makeouts that don't immediately lead to sex (either by design or by accidental interruption), gross fluffy ridiculous romcom-y tropes, people being very competent at what they do (and other people, ahem, enjoying it), little canon easter eggs, found families, intricate tangles of relationships among large groups of people, cute animals, puns, and the general concept of hope and humanity's essential goodness triumphing over darkness and existential despair!

Dislikes: misogyny in m/m relationships/demonization of female characters for the sake of m/m, misogynistic dirty talk (e.g., "slut"/"whore"), noncon/dubcon, infidelity, excessive jealousy/possessiveness, excessive kinky elements, A/B/O, mpreg, daddy kink, first- or second-person POV, and contrived miscommunication conflicts that could be resolved with a single, simple statement of clarification!

Some additional resources in terms of things I like: my trope and kink sorters (feel free not to take the rankings on those too seriously; the first seven or so on both lists are pretty solidly interchangeable as Favorite Things To Read). I... basically have no public fannish presence anymore and I'm so sorry about that, but here's my AO3 and my liveblog Twitter, which will almost certainly be of no use to you, ha, but if you want to see me yell about stuff as I read/watch it--! :")

SO having said all that-- let's get to the fandoms!! (Should go without saying, but SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW! IF YOU HAVEN'T CONSUMED THE FANDOMS BELOW, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER!)

( Elemental Blessings Series - Sharon Shinn )

( Carnival Row (TV) )

( Miracle Workers (TV) )

( Dressing Funny RPF )

Why hello there! ♥ I'm so glad to (er, sort of) meet you, and I'm so very glad you're writing something for me! First things first: I will love whatever you write me, I promise. A while back, my sister told me that I'm so easy to give gifts to, she could give me a raccoon that she found in the trash, and I would be delighted and name her Suzanne and make her a member of the family right away. AND SHE ISN'T WRONG.

... Er, I say this not to compare your fic to a trash raccoon (it's going to be so much better!!), but to assure you that as far as I'm concerned, it's the thought that counts, and I already think you're amazing just because you're reading this and getting ready to write me a thing! I'm happiest doing Yuletide when I'm pouring my heart into a prompt that's grabbed me and having fun with it, and I want you to have a happy Yuletide, too-- so follow your heart, even if it's not exactly what I've asked for! If you've enjoyed writing it, I promise you I'll enjoy reading it. ♥

Broadly speaking, the things usually I want out of Yuletide are character- rather than plot-driven stories (a good involved fic is always fun, but my faves tend to be stories that follow an emotional arc or a relationship development rather than characters dealing with an external conflict or a really intricate plot) with happy or at least hopeful endings (I'm fine with a more bittersweet light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel type ambiguity, but would really prefer more overt happiness, and I really and truly do not want any serious or lasting tragedy involved).

My major DNWs are needles (I have a huge phobia and would strongly prefer no mention of them at all, but if it does come up, please please please keep it brief and be sure to warn for me!) and serious issues beyond those explored in canon (e.g., racism, homophobia, character death, serious assault/injury, etc. etc.). To clarify what I mean, using examples from my requests this year: Miss Sloane involves a character that does a really awful thing to another character, and a traumatic event in the latter's background; not including those in the story would feel weird, since they have such a significant impact on the plot. In The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Mia deals with some implicit issues of sexism; I wouldn't want them to be a central part of the story, since they aren't front and center in canon, but they shouldn't be fully ignored, either. Meanwhile, while it's entirely possible that within the universe of American Bromance, Justin has dealt with racism, it would be totally antithetical to the mood of the canon to bring that up. So I don't want canon-specific issues ignored, but new ones shouldn't be introduced. (Homophobia especially is a big DNW for me, internalized or otherwise!)

More specifically, here are some overall likes and dislikes:

Likes: banter, UST/pining/slow burn, first kisses/makeouts that don't immediately lead to sex (either by design or by accidental interruption), subtle little nods to canon, gross fluffy ridiculous romcom-y tropes, people being very competent at what they do (and other people, ahem, enjoying it), found families, cute animals, puns, and my favorite characters/people having nice things and being happy!

Dislikes: misogyny in m/m relationships/demonization of female characters for the sake of m/m, misogynistic dirty talk (e.g., "slut"/"whore"), noncon/dubcon, A/B/O, excessive jealousy/possessiveness, first- or second-person POV, heavy kink (e.g., minor elements of D/s or bondage are fine, things like daddy kink less so), kidfic, and contrived miscommunication conflicts that could be resolved with a single, simple statement of clarification!

I'll specify my AU or porn preferences in each fandom section, but suffice it to say I'm generally down for either! For the most part, I've requested fandoms and characters here for which I'd most like to see shipfic; however, if I've written prompts for gen options, it's because I'm also genuinely interested in those. So if you're not feeling the ship, don't worry that you'll be disappointing me! Just because I have a preference doesn't mean it's the only thing that'll make me happy. ♥

Some more resources for you: my past letters are the last few posts on this journal, my trope and kink sorters, for some more specific ideas of things I like reading, and a non-comprehensive fandom list in case of crossover possibilities (don't feel the need to force it, but if something seems like it lends itself to the option, I'm certainly open to it!). I... basically have no public fannish presence anymore and I'm so sorry about that, but here's my AO3 and my liveblog Twitter, which will almost certainly be of no use to you, ha, but if you want to see me yell about stuff--!! :")

Now, ENOUGH OF THAT. Time for what we've all come to see-- the fandoms! \o/

( Miss Sloane )

( The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement )

( Ladyboss - Rachel Bloom (Music Video) )

( American Bromance (Short Film) )

( Yoplait Oui 'French Girl' Commercial )

( Academy Awards RPF )

GENERAL NOTE: This letter contains varying degrees of spoilers for all of the fandoms listed (with the exception of tennis RPF because, uh... obviously). If you're planning on consuming any of them at any point, a. don't read this yet, and b. DO SO. DO SO IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200, JUST DO IT.

Why hello there, dearest author! ♥ I am so very pleased to make your acquaintance-- I'm thrilled that you'll be writing something just for me, and I know for a fact I will love whatever you write me. I am one of those people that's extremely easy to shop for because anything you get me thrills me to my bone, since I'm just so happy that someone was thinking of me at all-- so trust me when I say that I'm delighted to just be getting fic, regardless of what it is, as long as you have fun writing it!

Overall, I like Yuletide to be a happy time of year for me, so the only things I will ask you to strictly abide by is happy endings (I will also accept "bittersweet but hopeful" or "open-ended but generally uplifting," just-- not overtly sad or dark), which means no serious, lasting tragedy (e.g., rape, character death, intense torture, serious unfixable injury, etc. etc.) and no serious real-world issues not already explored in canon. (For example, Captive Prince takes place during a war, The Departed involves hardcore criminals-- so any attempts to avoid those issues is pretty much impossible, given how ingrained they are in the canon. However, I don't want to see anything added to the canon that doesn't exist there already -- please don't introduce any serious trauma and don't give me any intense institutional discrimination. Keep it realistic and not overly traumatic.) (The ONE EXCEPTION to all this is Crimson Peak, which will be elaborated on in that particular request.)

A basic overall look at my taste:

I love: banter, UST/pining/slow burn, first kisses/makeouts that don't immediately lead to sex (either by design or by accidental interruption), people being really really dumb about their feelings and taking ages to get their shit together, awesome ladies!!, little nods to canon that will make me kick my feet in glee, really ridiculous tropey gross romance-novel/rom-com scenarios, people being very competent at what they do (and other people, ahem, enjoying it), found families, character- rather than plot-driven stories, cute animals, and my favorite characters/people BEING HAPPY!!

I don't love: misogyny in m/m relationships, misogynistic dirty talk, noncon/dubcon, character-bashing (unless EVERYONE agrees that they're fucking awful-- e.g., the Regent from Captive Prince), excessive jealousy/possessiveness, first- or second-person POV, heavy kink, and although I mentioned my love of gross romantic tropes above, I genuinely do not enjoy the miscommunication trope -- which is to say, I'm totally cool with characters who are canonically terrible at talking about their feelings continuing to be terrible at doing so, but if the conflict could have been resolved with a single, simple, not-difficult-to-utter statement of clarification, rest assured I am gently beating my head against the wall at the entire thing.

More generally, in case you get stuck and need inspiration, here are my results from the trope sorting meme! Aaand in case you go the porn route, here are my results from the kink sorting meme as well. >_>

And finally, I don't think it's likely to come up, but just in case: I have a big ol' needle phobia, so please keep them out of the story. I can be okay with a quick mention of them if it's necessary, as long as you just make it brief and please, please warn for it. Thank you for your consideration!!

My prior two Yuletide letters are the prior two posts on this journal; meanwhile, I'm mostly on Twitter these days at either my personal, locked account (@devilputaside; if you drop me a line about who you are, I'm happy to give you access!) or my public liveblogging account (@yellingaboutit; if you matched with me on Captive Prince or HTGAWM, I liveread Prince's Gambit and rewatched S1/am livetweeting S2 there, respectively). If you want a look at the Tumblr to which I haven't posted in over half a year, WHOOPS, it's allthroughoursplendor, and I have a fandom list here if you want to consult that. :3 And my AO3 is here, wherein you can see what I've written and what I've bookmarked as shit I really love!

So! That's enough of that. ON TO THE FANDOMS!

( Captive Prince )

( The Departed (2006) )

( The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) )

( Tennis RPF )

( How to Get Away with Murder )

( Crimson Peak (2015) )

Flist cut! Mostly small -- comms and dead journals and stuff like that -- but a couple of people, as usual, primarily because a. there's not much going on there, as far as I can tell, or b. I was getting the impression that we were mutually not really communicating, and I mostly don't think it's fair to you to have someone on your flist who's just skimming and not commenting a whole lot.

If you feel you've been wrongfully removed, by all means let me know, and as always, if you'd like to defriend me feel more than free. \o/

So, in a fit of desperately not wanting to do my creative writing exercise, I have finally redone all of my tags! It was a little weird to me to have all of the little one-word tags of people's and place names mixed in with the longer ones of situations/emotions/etc., so now family, friends (as "people"), and places all have their own category of tags and I enjoy it greatly. I may do the same with professors at some point, but I think that's all I'll be putting into categories.

In honour of this, something else I've been meaning to do! Minor flistcut! I don't think I've cut anyone I was really close to; it was mostly people whose entries I just wasn't reading and I felt bad about that, so I felt like I might as well get my flist back to the people whose entries I really did read, since keeping someone on when I'm just skimming is unfair to both of us. No one who's been cut is ~BARRED FROM EVER TALKING TO ME AGAIN or anything -- y'all should have my contact information and I always encourage using it. :D

On that note, IF ANYONE EVER WANTS TO DEFRIEND ME, PLEASE GO AHEAD! I don't want anyone to feel obligated to read along with my ridiculousness, so if you're not enjoying having me on your flist, seriously, feel free to get rid of me. :D: ♥