syllic wæs se sigebeam

Yulegoat, thank you so much for agreeing to write for me. I am excited about all of these fandoms, and I’m grateful that we share a love of one or more of them. I’m definitely and enthusiastically open to treats!

I write long letters, but this is in response to my own preferences as a writer and treater: I love lots of detail. If you don’t, please use what is helpful from this letter, if anything, and feel free to not engage with the rest. I included most of the basics in my sign-up itself; I added this letter mostly so that my writer could have access to old letters and more detail about general likes (or more information about my DNWs)

And so:


DNWs:
-Character death (even stories that end “and after a long happy life/friendship together, Character A buried Character B, remembering all the wonderful times they’d had with a bittersweet smile”. I get that death comes to us all, but this move really depresses me, even if the people in the fic have lived a long and fulfilled life)
-Unhappy endings
-Characters facing or inflicting extreme violence
-Gore
-Injustice or suffering that won’t relent or be resolved (I’m happy to see some dramatic tension created by a villain who’s out to get someone, but narratives where petty villains do shitty things for pleasure or terrorize someone for an entire storyline, even if there is justice at the end, are not enjoyable for me)
-Unresolved lack of communication, or long stretches of miscommunication/refusal to communicate that aren’t delved into or addressed before the end of the story
-A focus on discrimination or cruelty. Some of these canons could feasibly have canon-typical homophobia; I'd prefer for this not to feature prominently
-If you’re writing sex/smut: please no scat, vomit, diapers, infantilizing, Mommy kink, or vore. This seems an unlikely one, but just in case: please no gathering come in a receptacle and then making someone drink it or otherwise interact with it, a pet horror of mine stemming from an ~adult vampire novel~ someone snuck me in the 7th grade.


Things I enjoy!
-Found families and teams and groups of people working their way through life together
-Epistolary devices of ALL SORTS
-Dorks and hijinks
-Strong friendships where people know each other’s shit and have each other’s backs
-Dangerously competent people
-Conversations!
-Pining that resolves
-Overt flirtation: lots of touching and indications of interest, all in the context of a slow-ish burn
-Crossovers and fusions (between my requested fandoms or between my fandoms and anything I’ve written or bookmarked in the past is delightful; if you’re taking me to a new and exciting place, I’d appreciate a little summary of what I need to know so I can orient myself, and also if the focus isn’t heavily on the canon you’ve incorporated, as I am an old and will likely be lost).
-Grew-up-together fic
-Historical AUs (all the way through to the ancient past), royalty/high-political-intrigue-court-settings, magical AUs, or any AU where I learn a ton about something I didn’t know about before
-Tropes: amnesia and there’s someone you know you can trust even if you don’t recognize their face; woke-up-married and it’s hilarious; woke-up-married and it’s secretly what you wanted; arranged marriages where people fall in love gradually or have to work to discover how they can love each other; the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-fuck-you-only-I-get-to-antagonize-that-person-I-will-smite-all-other-enemies
-If you’re writing sex/smut, I like healthy explorations of power dynamics of all sorts, bondage, dirty talk, talking in general, playful sex with laughter, lots of making out, and any focus on tits (regardless of gender)! I can genuinely get behind almost every kink (see exceptions in the DNWs; if watersports are your thing, I like it, and I don’t mind blood in the context of a pre-sex fight/event or a period; a little comeplay is totally delightful, as long as it’s not the focus of the story/what I mention in the DNWs above). Daddy kink is fine; Mommy kink is not (don't mind those dynamics, but use of 'Mommy' is a no-no for me).
-I LOVE a good smutfest that is secretly also a feelings-fest

In no particular order, the fandoms:

Ender Series: Bean, Ender

I have read a large part of the books in this universe at least once (up until I discovered that Orson Scott Card was not someone to whom I wanted to give my money), but the one I’ve re-read again and again since my teens is Ender’s Game. Feel absolutely free to focus on this period/the Ender’s Shadow period, but also to range far and wide in the universe if you prefer! I love the boarding-school (of horror) aspects of this, and there is such a yawning gap of desire in my heart between what Bean knows and what Ender knows and what it might have meant for them to know together, to have each other in that way.

I love this relationship and would love to see it explored in any way whatsoever, particularly in canon-divergence fics where there is a happy ending for them both.

-BEAN REVEAL is my jam, I have to say. I thirst for recognition from Ender.

-Space hijinks and justice! Ender and Bean or Ender/Bean figure out what’s going on and wrench the early storyline in a particular unexpected direction?

-Ender’s acknowledgment that he worked his best lieutenants the hardest, and demanded most of them, is given more room to breathe, and maybe the two of them take a quiet moment to reflect on the world that might have been or the world they’ll now be responsible for building, through no choice of their own.

-AU where they’re all in some other kind of high-stakes, competence-requiring world and Ender and Bean can find ways to relate that aren’t completely defined by the realities of their origin universe.

-I love Bean’s quiet blessing to his troops in the final battle. I would love to see what would happen if Ender knew the truth too, and what they might bring to bear on a battle that included that incredible weight. I also love the one-by-one introductions of his lieutenants when Ender first sits down to battle after training alone for some time; I would love to see what goes through his and Bean's minds in that moment (though we know a bit more about Bean's perspective already)

-REBELLION AGAINST THE AUTHORITY! The kids just spend some time in a Battle Room drifting and talking quietly, or god forbid, laughing, or they straight-up demolish that bullshit institution and turn it into something constructive and powerful, because fuck “we couldn’t have used you this way if you’d ever known the truth, kids” and “this was the only way to do it”



Pitch: any combination of Ginny, Blip, Mike, Evelyn

I rewatch this series with some regularity, and have accepted almost a decade on that I will never be over it.

I have nominated Ginny, Mike, Blip, and Evelyn for the particular reason that there's something about their possible shared dynamic that fascinates me (but I wouldn't mind you playing with whatever combination of these three characters inspires you the most).

One of the best thing about this show was the genuine character growth that seemed to take place in one season. Blip pushed Mike and Ginny to grow; Ginny pushed Mike to grow; Mike pushed Ginny to grow; Evelyn was doing a shit-ton of heavy lifting throughout

As you can probably tell from all of these prompts, I love moments of generous instruction between individuals, and I was so fucking happy to see Blip point Mike in the right direction when it came to being the kind of teammate that Ginny deserves. Anything that continues to explore that would fill me with joy: I'd love to know why it is that Blip has Ginny's back so fully (is it his genuine decency and generosity? The fact that Evelyn took him aside and gave him his own talking-to, hard? That he saw Ginny's dedication first-hand, like Mike did? Some combination of all of these things, or something else?), and I'd really to see him teach Mike how to see with... clearer eyes. Better eyes, honestly. I'd love any moment of siblinghood between Blip and Ginny, or maybe Ginny trying to teach Blip and Mike something (baseball-related or otherwise) and having them both fail utterly at it?

-I’d love to see an easy day at the field, Mike icing his entire fucking body and Ginny at the end of rehabbing her shoulder and their easy camarederie on display
-I have to admit that early life exposure to Mark-Paul Gosselaar in the form of dubbed Salvado Por La Campana episodes has permanently left me in a place in which I'd love to see him and Ginny get together. I am very into it. Including just... bad-decision PWP with love (which need not be super romantic) and respect.
-Future fic where Mike’s retired and Ginny's house-husband (or best friend) would be A-okay by me.
-SPORTS OLD AGE, THOUGH NOT ACTUAL OLD AGE: A Biography by Mike would be great, particularly if he settles into coaching or broadcasting or anything entirely new
-Finally, anything with Ginny will make me happy. I don't know enough about her and I want to learn where her vulnerable parts are and how she got that frame of steel, and I want to see her really carve out her place in the team (with others ideally stepping up and helping make a space for her)


The Exorcist: Marcus, Tomás

I haven't seen this series in a while (and plan to re-watch it in preparation for Yuletide); I'm looking to re-immerse myself in it. I liked S1 more than S2, but was so happy to see the relationship between these two deepen and become more complex.

If I were to sum up what I want in one sentence, it would be: defrocked travelin' man and rebelliously still-frocked (I know that's not a term) priest travel the country (the world?) doing good and getting bloody. If they FALL IN LOVE THAT IS A GREAT PLUS.

I am very happy for you to explore the real horror elements that are central to this canon; I don't mind you telling a story that is firmly rooted in those elements, though you should also feel free to capture Tomás and Marcus in a moment away from all of that, shooting the shit at a bar. I would love to see anything that deals with how each of these men (or all of these men) are dealing with the fallout from S1, including the deep sense of betrayal that they each must feel, in different ways.

(I also wanted to say that if you want to deal specifically with questions of faith or religion, you should feel free to tackle those; I am not religious myself, but would find any story dealing with this fascinating.)

-I like Marcus' implacable nature, and am interested about where it meets with a problematic inflexibility; Tomás' human core, and his openness to others, are some of the most interesting parts of his character to me, but I see how they would be both a gift and a curse going forward. Any kind of exploration of how these men came to be who they are, or any story that deals with who they are becoming, would be wonderful, too.

-Future fic (outsider POV?): a case brings them back together (Marcus is living in a town and has ended up embroiled in it; the church sends Tomás). They have to get used to one another again, but before they know it it's like no time has passed, and the person who has called them has lots of moments of watching it and being like, "How did these two best friends/boyfriends come to be here? I thought they didn't know each other?"

-Anything that is research-oriented, or which explores the bookish parts of the work they will probably be doing in the future, would make my heart sing. Medieval archival research for the win!

-Passionate, somewhat-guilty-but-not-really, just... emotion-filled fucking is my jam


Billy Elliot: any combination of Billy, Michael, Jackie, Tony

This movie has been beloved to me from the moment it came out (alright, alright, don't lose your blob! I lost my blob).

I love the relationships between the family here: the deep willingness that Tony and Jackie have to act in ways that support Billy, even if they don't fully understand him. In general I think this is the vibe: reaching across spaces toward other people, because love makes it worth it. The fact that Billy loves Michael, and that THEY ARE STILL FRIENDS IN ADULTHOOD (I hope; given that the family is all seated together at the end, I'm assuming they are) makes my heart explode.

-Seeing Billy thrive as an adult would be amazing. A slice-of-life in which he is self-assured and happy and being gracefully competent would make me so happy

-Without dissing on Michael's partner, I WOULD NOT MIND Billy/Michael in any form: casual, laughter-filled, hot sex between friends; friends-to-lovers; Billy realizing late in life that Michael has been the most consistent presence in his life and realizing he must battle for his hand in marriage

-Billy being incredibly oblivious to the fact that everyone in his company is thirsting after him and Michael pointing it out (laughingly, as best friends do, or sexily, as best friends do), or Billy teaching someone the very basics while they struggle not to implode

-Seeing either Tony or Jackie become knowledgeable-ish about any aspect of what Billy does would be tremendous, as would be them trying to teach others. I'd also love to see any of their future interactions in the mines (DOWN WITH FUCKING THATCHER), perhaps a little wiser and a little more emotionally able because of how they've grown as a family

Hello, dear Yuletide writer!

(First and foremost, apologies for the “letter coming soon” message sitting on here for a week: I had hoped to complete a letter sooner, and I apologize for not having done so. If you haven’t started writing, I hope some of this might spark your interest; if you have, thank you and please ignore this letter! I really regret being That Asshole.)

Yulegoat, thank you so much for agreeing to write for me. I am excited about all of these fandoms, and I’m grateful that we share a love of one or more of them. I’m definitely and enthusiastically open to treats!

I write long letters, but this is in response to my own preferences as a writer and treater: I love lots of detail! If you don’t, please use what is helpful from this letter, if anything, and feel free to not engage with the rest.

And so:


DNWs:
-Character death (even stories that end “and after a long happy life/friendship together, A buried B, remembering all the wonderful times they’d had with a bittersweet smile”. I get that death comes to us all, but this move really depresses me, for some reason, even if the people in the fic have lived a long and fulfilled life)
-Unhappy endings
-Characters facing or inflicting extreme violence, particularly sexual violence
-Gore
-Injustice or suffering that won’t relent or be resolved (I’m happy to see some dramatic tension created by a villain who’s out to get someone, but narratives where petty villains do shitty things for pleasure or terrorize someone for an entire storyline, even if there is justice at the end, are not enjoyable for me)
-Unresolved lack of communication, or long stretches of miscommunication/refusal to communicate that aren’t delved into or addressed before the end of the story
-A focus on discrimination or cruelty
-If you’re writing sex/smut: please no scat, vomit, diapers, infantilizing, or vore. This seems an unlikely one, but just in case: please no gathering come in a receptacle and then making someone drink it or otherwise interact with it, a pet horror of mine stemming from an ~adult vampire novel~ someone snuck me in the 7th grade; in general, long, detailed descriptions of comeplay are not super my cup of tea, probably stemming from that same teen experience.






Things I enjoy!
-Found families and teams and groups of people working their way through life together
-Epistolary devices of ALL SORTS
-Dorks and hijinks
-Strong friendships where people know each other’s shit and have each other’s backs
-Dangerously competent people
-Conversations!
-Pining that resolves
-Overt flirtation: lots of touching and indications of interest, all in the context of a slow-ish burn
-Crossovers and fusions (between my requested fandoms or between my fandoms and anything I’ve written or bookmarked in the past is delightful; if you’re taking me to a new and exciting place, I’d appreciate a little summary of what I need to know so I can orient myself, and also if the focus isn’t heavily on the canon you’ve incorporated, as I am an old and will likely be lost.
-Grew-up-together fic
-Historical AUs (all the way through to the ancient past), royalty/high-political-intrigue-court-settings, magical AUs, or any AU where I learn a ton about something I didn’t know about before
-Tropes: amnesia and there’s someone you know you can trust even if you don’t recognize their face; woke-up-married and it’s hilarious; woke-up-married and it’s secretly what you wanted; arranged marriages where people fall in love gradually or have to work to discover how they can love each other; the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-fuck-you-only-I-get-to-antagonize-that-person-I-will-smite-all-other-enemies
-If you’re writing sex/smut, I like healthy explorations of power dynamics of all sorts, bondage, dirty talk, talking in general, playful sex with laughter, lots of making out, and any focus on tits! I can genuinely get behind almost every kink (see exceptions in the DNWs; if watersports are your thing, I like it, and I don’t mind blood in the context of a pre-sex fight/event or a period; a little comeplay is totally delightful, as long as it’s not the focus of the story/what I mention in the DNWs above).

In no particular order, the fandoms (length of my little spiel per fandom does not correlate to interest! There are simply fandoms that I’m more practiced speaking about—I am equally fond of and excited about each of the below):











Eroica Yori Ai o Komete | From Eroica with Love: Klaus von dem Eberbach, Dorian Red Gloria

(A quick note on this fandom: I am aware that it's canon-compliant to set Eroica fic in a world that isn't great about queer people and queer relationships; I would prefer a story that didn't deal heavily with homophobia, though.)

This is one of my truly old fandoms, and like many things from earlier in life, it has taken on a hazy nostalgic quality that is likely at odds with the real thing, but: what I love most about Eroica is Klaus and Dorian’s uneasy but effective cooperation (I could definitely do without the violence against Dorian, though I do appreciate that that’s part of the canon). I love the utter competence they each bring to their jobs, and the notion that they’re best together even when they don’t quite see it or understand it. I’m attached to what I interpret to be Klaus’ life of quiet, measured rebellion—his hair and his fuck-you-Chief attitude—and to thinking about what that means for him in terms of finding his place in the world. I like Dorian’s merry band of thieves, and Dorian’s moments of thoughtfulness and maturity in looking after them. I like the Alphabet’s devotion to Klaus and what it might say about the kind of human being he must be under all that shouting. I think a lot about Dorian doing emotional labor even when he’s kind of being a shit, and what it would mean for either of these two characters to instruct the other through some new experience or expose the other to a new way of thinking—truly, with sincere effort and curiosity.


Some specific prompts:
-I'm WEIRDLY attached to the idea of them aging, finding peace with each other—in whatever way—as their bones get wearier and the missions get harder to accomplish. They’re getting old but have one more case left in them!
-They’re approaching their respective retirements and bond over the training of new young whippersnappers. Klaus/Dorian gets some young new subordinate and the two of them catch themselves rolling their eyes at each other like, fuck me, this kid
-Klaus and Dorian realizing that they make good partners by seeing themselves through others’ eyes
-They’ve ended up unwilling friends and call or write or font-20-text-thread each other to gripe, and cannot believe how integral the other has become to their lives (romantically, if you want!)
-Most of these are future prompts because I know it can be tough to deal with the homophobia that’s such a large part of the in-period canon, but give me young Dorian and Klaus fucking shit up and standing up for each other where they can, and carving a space in their lives for their cantankerous/ridiculous but badass counterpart!
-Time travel them, either literally or in a “let’s reboot this fucker in the way of all 2022 media!” sense; I would love to see the Klaus and Dorian of today.










Pitch: Ginny, Mike, Livan
Am I over the death of Pitch in 2022? I am not, your honor.

I have nominated Ginny, Mike, and Livan for what seems possible in their dynamic; I’m fine with any combination of these characters, though.

One of the best thing about this show was the genuine character growth that seemed to take place in one season. Blip pushed Mike and Ginny to grow; Ginny pushed Mike to grow; Mike pushed Ginny to grow; it seemed like they all might push Livan to grow. Evelyn was doing a shit-ton of heavy lifting throughout. I would love to see what you make of this as these relationships shift and hopefully are nourished by a lot of shared energy. What kind of partnership do Livan and Ginny develop? How does it make room for Mike? Does Mike discover a possible future in genuinely helping a kid take over his role at home plate?

Some specific prompts:
-I’d love to see an easy day at the field, Mike icing his entire fucking body and Ginny at the end of rehabbing her shoulder and Livan taking a quiet moment to realize he wants in on their easy and meaningful camaraderie
-I have to admit that early life exposure to Mark-Paul Gosselaar in the form of dubbed Salvado Por La Campana episodes has permanently left me in a place in which I'd love to see him and Ginny get together. I know that'd be difficult given what we know about Ginny so far, and there'd have to be a lot of negotiation for it to be good for them both, but... I'm really into it
-Future fic where Mike’s retired and Ginny's house-husband (or best friend) would be A-okay by me.
-SPORTS OLD AGE, THOUGH NOT ACTUAL OLD AGE: A Biography by Mike would be great, particularly if he settles into coaching or broadcasting or anything entirely new
-Finally, anything with Ginny will make me happy. I don't know enough about her and I want to learn where her vulnerable parts are and how she got that frame of steel, and I want to see her really carve out her place in the team (with others ideally stepping up and helping make a space for her)
(…and if Ginny/Livan/Mike is what calls to you, I am definitely also into it.)










I Want to Go Home!: Rudy Miller, Mike Webster
Rudy Miller’s (non-tragic) Bartleby the Scrivener energy is a mood. I love the zany energy of the entire novel, and the way it captures the near-surreality of what childhood makes possible. I’m so intrigued by how Mike’s and Rudy’s personalities would translate into adulthood, and by how their relationship could be a genuinely shaping one for them both—whether they grow up together and stay best friends or simply hold on to the memory of that summer as a foundation for what they each do after. I definitely ship Rudy/Mike; if you don’t, please know that what makes me the happiest is their dynamic, and the easy way that they nurture it.

Some specific prompts:
-I would love to experience their interactions from Rudy’s perspective: what draws him to Mike, and why? What does that look like later, or over the years?
-PEN PALS. Even better if Rudy tells everyone sarcastically that he’s writing to the love of his life to deflect further questions and then… it turns out he is
-If they fall out of touch, do they keep telling stories about each other? And then one day at a party they’re both talking about the kid who shaped their life at camp and overhear each other’s cadences and… turn
-Look, if they get married and then it’s just a story about Mike cooking spaghetti in preparation for Rudy coming home from his job supporting labor unions pro bono and then them watching television: GOOD
-Unexpectedly meaningful relationships with Chip or Pierre, or… Mr. Warden
-One thousand percent a fan of AUs, as I think hijinks on a spaceship (omg Ender’s Game?) or in a guild of Regency magicians would be even better hijinks
-I especially would love any story focusing on their complementary strengths: Rudy is Chosen One levels of talented in the book, but there’s a reason why the two of them work the way they do.










Pushing Daisies: Olive Snook, Emerson Cod
Ahhh, this dazzling, colorful, golden, magical realism gem of a show, with its warm sunlight feeling of watching weird people eating delicious pies while interviewing gory cadavers. I take immense pleasure from its quirkiness and beauty and its ragtag band of misfits. Anything that celebrates those things will make my heart sing, and casefic would be a joy explosion! I’m happy to see the characters in any combination, and I’m not particularly attached to canon pairings (though I’d be happy to see them), so do whatever calls to you. I nominated Olive and Emerson because I want to know more about them: because they tug at the edges of the show when it veers into something almost too twee to bear and ground it into a narrative as satisfying as those pies look.

Some specific prompts:

-Completely self-indulgent AU—Olive Snook and Emerson Cod: The Childhood Years, where it was Olive and Emerson who grew up next door to each other, and who find themselves 20 years later trying to make sense of the sad baker for whom Olive now works, and whose secret they have figured out
-The City Sanitation Board is on to the fact that the only ingredients that ever go into that building are not fit for human consumption, but Emerson will be dammed if he lets some bureaucrat in a bad suit shut down his favorite pie place
-Conversely. much beautiful reanimated fruit and so much beautiful pie just makes me feel like I want to see them bake and bake and bake, and whether that’s in their universe or another, I would welcome all the food porn
-Emerson leaves investigation to make the pop-up books of his dreams, and perhaps they’re somewhat gory hardboiled detective pop-up books, but people are into them anyway
-The gang on a case, eating copious quantities of macaroni and cheese at The Intrepid Cow as they try to make sense of a victim’s mysterious last words
-Six years, two months, and five hours after falling in love with the Pie Maker a second time, Chuck tripped on an errant top hat left behind in the home by one of his magician half-brothers, and before she or he could stop it, she tumbled headlong into Ned’s arms, which were pinwheeling away from her as fast as he could make them. Her body fell back as if zapped when they touched, landing in the nest into which Olive Snook and Emerson Cod had cupped their arms. Six years, two months, five hours and 37 seconds later, Chuck breathed back to life
-(Or any twist on this: do Emerson and/or Olive have powers that they have not yet discovered? Does everyone in this world, but are all the powers weird enough that you might never, ever find out about them unless the planets and stars align?)
-The facts were these: despite the seeming impossibility of it, letters addressed to the Pie Maker written by people he long thought dead-again kept arriving at the house in Coeur d’ Coeurs.










Big Eden: Henry Hart, Pike Dexter
Oh, this fantasy town, tucked away in the little queer-friendly forest and valley that could. I watched this film for the first time before I even had a vocabulary for what its flavor of queer representation—happy, transformative, community-supported—meant to me. I have always found Henry pretty maddening, but I say this with love: the film is full of fleshed-out and complex human characters, each carrying a lot, none without flaws, all seeking connection. The clarity with which Henry finally begins to see Pike (and himself) feels like the best kind of growth. And Pike! With his steady and rooted and diligent labors of love, and his care of others. Please let Pike run the World General Store 2022. I will read stories about Pike making jam and selling people their fishing supplies while they appreciate him all day long.

Some specific prompts:
-A little slice of life from before the events of the movie, and a little slice of after: in what ways have these two people looked at each other, and what is it like to see and be seen?
-PIKE’S CROCHET GROUP: how did he acquire his back-of-the-store-dude family? And are they going to make the vine archway for the wedding?
-The ways in which Pike is at the heart of the town, and the ways in which Henry learns from his example
-Just Pike Being Happy
-Any AU into which the cozy, green feeling of Big Eden can be transferred
-A story about what this community can do and why it’s so full of love, and how it sustains itself (including if it sustains by fairy or eldritch magic, and Henry has to discover its ways—who knew I wanted creepy Big Eden until I typed that?)
-Sampa is Just Fine after that scare
-Pike quietly builds The General Store into a Michelin-star restaurant and is quietly pleased by and proud of this, though he never, ever, ever wants to be anywhere near front of house.










30歳まで童貞だと魔法使いになれるらしい | Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (TV): Adachi Kiyoshi, Kurosawa Yuichi

So there’s clearly a kind of partial theme in this fandom selection, and it’s wanting to revel in sweet and good things and the delight they bring. I watched this show the entire way through in one night, marveling at how much it did and the depth of intimacy it suggested with close-up shots of hands on scarves and boyband photo shoot-levels of good bright light.

I’d love to see more of Kurosawa’s loving patience, but also his playful side—look, there’s a lot of room and a lot of flirtation between touch telepathy handholding and wizarding powers-ending sex. Also more of Adachi’s bravery, and his sense of his ethical commitments to other human beings: I know this sounds kind of grandiose, but it says a lot about a person that they actively commit to pushing outside their comfort zone (in a positive way) because vulnerability deserves vulnerability.

-What if before the powers go away, they get shared, and they both know what others are thinking for a little while? (Or they both know what the other is thinking during the sex itself?)
-Tropey as fuck, but when can you if not at Yuletide: the same premise as the show, except it’s arranged marriage fic and after they celebrate Adachi’s 30th birthday he suddenly knows just how hard Kurosawa is pining back—but he still has to figure out how to give voice to his own feelings, and he’s not great with speaking. So all the ways they communicate without speaking, caring for each other!
-Adachi has heard about what happens when you turn 30, and something does—but it’s not what he was told
-In a world where everyone has touch telepathy and people have developed all kinds of ways to respect one another’s privacy, Adachi and Kurosawa are the kind of friends who sometimes make it a point to touch (maybe they do some kind of partner-based work, and they are scarily in tune with one another and are incredibly competent as a result? (They’re… pair tennis players!)). The thing is, when you turn 30, the power disappears—and Kurosawa is so afraid that will happen before Adachi knows how he really feels.
-After he turns 30, Adachi runs a matchmaking business where he helps people figure out exactly what kind of romantic partner they want: he spends time with his clients, observing them carefully, touching them just enough to overhear the things they think about needing and wanting when their conscious thought processes aren’t getting in the way, and he has an incredible success rate pairing people from his client base. One day, Kurosawa walks through the door.

As always, thank you for offering to write in these fandoms, and I’m delighted we’ve matched. Once again, my organizing selection principle was: more of this canon, please, in whatever form, after this long and exhausting year. Thank you for signing up for Yuletide and bringing more joy into December!

Pitch: Ginny, Mike, Blip
I’m not sure I will ever fully get over the death of Pitch.

I have nominated Ginny, Mike, and Blip for the particular reason that there's something about their possible shared dynamic that fascinates me (but I wouldn't mind you playing with whatever combination of these three characters inspires you the most). I was so fucking happy to see Blip point Mike in the right direction when it came to being the kind of teammate that Ginny deserves. Anything that continues to explore that would fill me with joy: I'd love to know why it is that Blip has Ginny's back so fully (is it his genuine decency and generosity? The fact that Evelyn took him aside and gave him his own talking-to, hard? That he saw Ginny's dedication first-hand, like Mike did? Some combination of all of these things, or something else?), and I'd really to see him teach Mike how to see with... clearer eyes. More open and more generous and better eyes, honestly. I'd love any moment of siblinghood between Blip and Ginny, or maybe Ginny trying to teach Blip and Mike something (baseball-related or otherwise) and having them both fail utterly at it?

I have to admit that early exposure to Mark-Paul Gosselaar has permanently left me in a place in which I'd love to see him and Ginny get together. I know that'd be difficult given what we know about Ginny so far, and there'd have to be a lot of negotiation for it to be good for them both, but... I'm into it. Future fic where he's retired and Ginny's house-husband would be A-okay by me. SPORTS OLD AGE, THOUGH NOT ACTUAL OLD AGE: A Biography by Mike would be great, particularly if he settles into coaching or broadcasting or anything new.

Finally, anything with Ginny will make me happy. I don't know enough about her and I want to learn where her vulnerable parts are and how she got that frame of steel, and I want to see her really carve out her place in the team (with others ideally stepping up and helping make a space for her).

(I should mention that if Ginny/Blip or Ginny/Blip/Mike is what calls to you, I'd really appreciate seeing Evelyn treated super respectfully, and no infidelity, please.)

The Martian: Melissa Lewis
I was a great fan of the book and an only-very-slightly-less-enthusiastic fan of the movie. I’ve prompted Lewis, but I'd love to see any of the characters in the tagset. I love SCIENCE (probably particularly because I am NOT SCIENCE-SKILLED). I love that everyone knows how to do something, that there’s a way in which they all understand how to make a planet and the vast darkness of space yield shit up for them in terms of their expertise. I love how much of a family they clearly are, even if we mostly see that in glimpses. Lewis’ sense of what it means to be a leader is deeply satisfying to me; their collective sense of what sacrifices and risks are required—but also of which losses should not have to be borne—in the name of exploration make me feel all the feelings.

Some specific prompts:

-Any glimpse into ship life when Watney is on Mars, particularly their own attempts to science it out not only in terms of what he’s been up to and could get up to but also in terms of what he might need from them, in the worst-case scenarios they can probably all imagine.
-Lewis corresponding with Martinez (or another colleague) in space, shooting the shit and also secretly commanding from the ground
-SPACE OPERA.
-AU where Lewis is the one stuck on Mars, or where more than one of them is stuck on Mars and that pair or group of people have to figure it out together.
-Historical AU where Mars isn’t in reach yet but opening a discotheque (yes, I typed the word “discotheque”) after returning from a space mission is.
-How did Lewis (and/or any of the others) come into the space program? Recruitment montage!


Scrotal Recall (“Lovesick”)—Luke Curran, Evie Douglas, Dylan Witter
Will forever love these failboats, and would really appreciate seeing them continuing to struggle to grow up. Also will forever love the original show name, which Luke clearly came up with to describe Dylan’s experience (while doing a Schwarzenegger accent), and I will not give it up. I love their family dynamics; I love the ways in which they quietly call each other out to grow. I love how willing the show is to explore the vulnerable or earnest side of people, and the opportunities that sharing that side can open—sometimes characters are so painfully earnest that you want to die inside, but that’s okay. I am happy to see any combination of these characters, though I have to reveal my bias for Luke’s everything, and his biography that I think should be called Diary of a Secret Good. I also don’t think we’ve heard enough of Evie’s voice at all, and if you want to let her shout and teach and learn and fuck up and cry while front and center in your story, that would be delightful.

Some prompts:

-Luke In Therapy Forever. (Not like, he has to be in therapy forever. I forever will read about Luke in therapy.). He learns new things, he gets happier and stronger, he becomes committed to making others happier and stronger, with fine-wine 1980/90s film examples to help.
-Five Years In The Future Fic where maybe Jonesy and Luke got married first (to each other or otherwise) and no one can believe it, and Evie and Dylan continue to learn what it takes to make something work, but are quietly nourished by it every day.
-Anything about their professional lives! These fucking people, going to award shows and bowling parties, but what the fuck do they actually do all day? Helping each other out and propping each other up in their successes and failures outside of love.
-Re: professional lives, Dylan quietly gardening out back, and the three of them building the garden of their dreams.
-Any quiet moment of friendship or love between these characters, or maybe a glimpse into a future where they’re not as physically proximate as they used to be and are still each other’s rocks, which requires inventiveness.
-Or a look into that house, Dylan+Evie and Luke! If you want to go the OT3 route, that’s perfectly fine, A-OK-hooray by me, though we should all bow to Jonesy’s awesomeness, I feel, so I would be eternally grateful if you gave her the fabulous exit she would all but demand from life.
-I think one of the things I love best about the show is how real it feels sometimes for someone in the characters’ age group: what the fuck are we supposed to be doing? What is partnership? What is timing? How do you know? What is certainty of any sort? I’d love to see them navigate another life moment like this one (having kids; becoming managers or leaders at work; realizing they don’t want to do the work they do except now they’re 50 instead of 30; looking after parents).
-The gang “watching” a Luke film retelling.


Pushing Daisies—Olive Snook, Emerson Cod, Ned
It’s become a bit of a Yuletide tradition for me to nominate at least one show for atmosphere, for all the things it evokes and the way in which certain images and tropes jump to the forefront of your mind when you watch it or think about it. This dumpster fire year I'm returning to Pushing Daisies, with all its chromatically dazzling, warm sunlight feeling of watching weird people eating delicious pies and interviewing gory cadavers. I take immense pleasure from its quirkiness and beauty and its ragtag band of misfits. Anything that celebrates those things will make my heart sing, and casefic would be a joy explosion! I’m happy to see the characters in any combination, and I’m not particularly attached to canon pairings (though I’d be happy to see them), so do whatever calls to you.

Some specific prompts:

-Completely self-indulgent AU—Olive Snook and Emerson Cod: The Childhood Years, where it was Olive and Emerson who grew up next door to each other, and who find themselves 20 years later trying to make sense of the sad baker for whom Olive now works, and whose secret they have figured out.
-So much beautiful fruit and so much beautiful pie just makes me feel like I want to see them bake and bake and bake, and whether that’s in their universe or another, I would welcome all the food porn.
-Emerson leaves investigation to make the pop-up books of his dreams, and perhaps they’re somewhat gory hardboiled detective pop-up books, but people are into them after all.
-The gang on a case, eating copious quantities of macaroni and cheese at The Intrepid Cow as they try to make sense of a victim’s mysterious last words.
-Six years, two months, and five hours after falling in love with the Pie Maker a second time, Chuck tripped on an errant top hat left behind in the home by one of his magician half-brothers, and before she or he could stop it, she tumbled headlong into Ned’s arms, which were pinwheeling away from her as fast as he could make them. Six years, two months, five hours and seventeen seconds later, she was somehow not dead.
-The facts were these: despite the seeming impossibility of it, letters addressed to the Pie Maker written by people he long thought dead-again kept arriving at the house in Coeur d’ Coeurs.

Slings and Arrows: Geoffrey Tennant
New Burbage: The Netflix Special is the horror and pleasure that was waiting to be visited on this deep-knit family of ridiculous personalities, and if you are called to time-fudge and move the show forward to a post-series contemporary moment, I would be delighted.

As with all my fandoms, I picked Geoffrey as my character, but am happy to see any combination of the nominated, or non-nominated characters.

I think what I love most about this show is its unabashed love of theater, of Shakespeare, of art, of taking your craft seriously even if no one will take you seriously (Sorry! Sorry for caring!) and I would be happy to see backstage shenanigans, front-of-house mishaps, the quiet moments of reflection as you walk your character off the stage and then have to go home to make yourself a cup of tea. If you love Shakespeare and want to go all out with the intricacies of a particular ridiculous production (the show wondered painfully if there was something genuinely rotting in Denmark, but: is the pursuing bear truly a bear, and if so, who has to wear the costume? Can we bear the musical Merchant of Venice that corporate will no doubt demand at one point? Will Maria murder someone?) or dwell on the particular quiet moments of making a beautiful piece of language work, please do. This canon has always felt to me as if it resists AUs, but if you can figure it out, I will treasure that story always; the genuine-but-still-hilarious haunting of a theater that has always had its ghosts is the story I never knew I wanted, but just realized I do.


DNWs:
Character death (even stories that end “and after a long happy life/friendship together, A buried B, remembering all the wonderful times they’d had with a bittersweet smile”. I get that death comes to us all, but this move really depresses me, for some reason, even if the people in the fic have lived a long and fulfilled life)
-Unhappy endings
-A focus on characters being victims of or inflicting extreme violence, particularly sexual violence (fine if this is a crime described in a casefic; I just would prefer this not to be a focus of the plot)
-Gore (as above)
-Injustice or suffering that won’t relent or be resolved (I’m happy to see some dramatic tension created by a villain who’s out to get someone, but narratives where petty villains do shitty things for pleasure or terrorize someone for an entire storyline or canon bring me no pleasure).
-Unresolved lack of communication, or long stretches of miscommunication/refusal to communicate that aren’t delved into or addressed before the end of the story
-A focus on discrimination or cruelty
-If you’re writing sex/smut: please no scat, vomit, diapers, infantilizing, or vore. This seems an unlikely one, but better safe than sorry: please no gathering come in a receptacle and then making someone drink it or otherwise interact with it, a pet horror of mine stemming from an ~adult vampire novel~ someone snuck me in the 7th grade; actually, long, detailed descriptions of comeplay in general are not super my cup of tea, probably stemming from that same teen experience.

Things I enjoy!
-Found families and teams and groups of people working their way through life together
-Epistolary devices of ALL SORTS
-Dorks and hijinks
-Strong friendships and relationships where people know each other’s shit and have each other’s backs
-Dangerously competent people
-Conversations!
-Pining that resolves
-Crossovers and fusions (between my requested fandoms or between my fandoms and anything I’ve written or bookmarked in the past is delightful; if you’re taking me to a new and exciting place, I’d appreciate a little summary of what I need to know so I can orient myself, and also if the focus isn’t heavily on the canon you’ve incorporated, as I am an old and will likely be lost)
-Grew-up-together fic
-Historical AUs (all the way through to the ancient past), royalty/high-political-intrigue-court-settings, and magical AUs
-Tropes: amnesia and there’s someone you know you can trust even if you don’t recognize their face; woke-up-married and it’s hilarious; woke-up-married and it’s secretly what you wanted; arranged marriages where people fall in love gradually or have to work to discover how they can love each other; the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-fuck-you-only-I-get-to-antagonize-that-person-I-will-smite-all-other-enemies
-If you’re writing sex/smut, I like healthy explorations of power dynamics of all sorts, bondage, dirty talk, talking in general, playful sex with laughter, lots of makeouts, and any focus on tits! I can genuinely get behind almost every kink (see exceptions in the DNWs; if watersports are your thing, go for it, and I don’t mind blood in the context of a pre-sex fight/event or a period; a little comeplay is totally fine, as long as it’s not the focus of the story/what I mention in the DNWs above re: vampire novel trauma)

Yuletide Writer, as usual this letter is a novel, and I hope it was helpful or informative rather than feeling like A Lot. All of this is meant to be generative if you want it, never prescriptive, and totally dismissible if nothing strikes your fancy; you should write a story you truly enjoy, which I am certain I will enjoy in turn. Thank you so much again for writing for me, unknown friend.

Dear Writer,

Thank you for offering to write in these fandoms, and I’m delighted we’ve matched. This year I’ve picked six fandoms for six entirely different reasons, and receiving fic in any will fill a particular and deeply held wish; thank you for sharing a love of one of them with me!

My letters are usually very long, because that’s the type of starting point I personally find useful as a writer, but if that’s not helpful to you (or if you already had an idea, as I was caught by surprise by fast matching and unlocked my letter a day late), feel free to skim the letter very lightly, or just not to read anything beyond the DNWs!

DNWs:
-Character death (even stories that end “and after a long happy life/friendship together, A buried B, remembering all the wonderful times they’d had with a bittersweet smile”. I get that death comes to us all, but this move really depresses me, for some reason, even if the people in the fic have lived a long and fulfilled life)
-Unhappy endings
-Characters facing or inflicting extreme violence (see a couple of exceptions below), particularly sexual violence
-Gore
-Injustice or suffering that won’t relent or be resolved (I’m happy to see some dramatic tension created by a villain who’s out to get someone, but narratives where petty villains do shitty things for pleasure or terrorize someone for an entire storyline or canon really get me in the rage-feels place).
-Unresolved lack of communication, or long stretches of miscommunication/refusal to communicate that aren’t delved into or addressed before the end of the story
-A focus on discrimination or cruelty
-If you’re writing sex/smut: please no scat, vomit, diapers, infantilizing, or vore. This seems an unlikely one, but I unexpectedly came across it the other day and so am including it: please no gathering come in a receptacle and then making someone drink it or otherwise interact with it, a pet horror of mine stemming from an ~adult vampire novel~ someone snuck me in the 7th grade; actually, long, detailed descriptions of comeplay in general are not super my cup of tea, probably stemming from that same teen trauma.

Things I enjoy!
-Found families and teams and groups of people working their way through life together
-Epistolary devices of ALL SORTS
-Dorks and hijinks
-Strong friendships where people know each other’s shit and have each other’s backs
-Dangerously competent people
-Conversations!
-Pining that resolves
-Crossovers and fusions (between my requested fandoms or between my fandoms and anything I’ve written or bookmarked in the past is delightful; if you’re taking me to a new and exciting place, I’d appreciate a little summary of what I need to know so I can orient myself, and also if the focus isn’t heavily on the canon you’ve incorporated, as I am an old and will likely be lost. If in doubt, S is my bro and available to answer questions.
-Grew-up-together fic
-Historical AUs (all the way through to the ancient past), royalty/high-political-intrigue-court-settings, and magical AUs
-Tropes: amnesia and there’s someone you know you can trust even if you don’t recognize their face; woke-up-married and it’s hilarious; woke-up-married and it’s secretly what you wanted; arranged marriages where people fall in love gradually or have to work to discover how they can love each other; the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-fuck-you-only-I-get-to-antagonize-that-person-I-will-smite-all-other-enemies
-If you’re writing sex/smut, I like healthy explorations of power dynamics of all sorts, bondage, dirty talk, talking in general, playful sex with laughter, lots of makeouts, and any focus on tits! I can genuinely get behind almost every kink (see exceptions in the DNWs; if watersports are your thing, I like it, and I don’t mind blood in the context of a pre-sex fight/event or a period; a little comeplay is totally delightful, as long as it’s not the focus of the story/what I mention in the DNWs above re: vampire novel trauma)




To the fandoms!

Lately I’ve found myself hugely enjoying stories where a romantic relationship is not the primary focus, after almost two decades of the opposite. A relationship-focused story would obviously wonderful if you want to write it, but if you want to do anything plot-driven (whether it’s 1k of characters figuring out something new or working on a project, or the longfic of your heart), case-driven, or focused on world-building or politics or science or dealing with life in general, I will also be so delighted.

Ender Series—Ender, Petra
I have read a large part of the books in this universe at least once (up until I discovered that Orson Scott Card was not someone to whom I wanted to give my money), but the one I’ve re-read again and again since my teens is Ender’s Game. Feel absolutely free to focus on this period/the Ender’s Shadow period, but also to range far and wide in the universe if you prefer! I have fewer prompts about those future storylines because I remember them less clearly, but I would be JOYFUL to be re-introduced to them by you, writer.

I’m really happy that Petra and Ender were both nominated because I have always thought their relationship was so particular, so intensely fragile and yet intimate, so integral to both of their lives in different ways. I know they don’t interact much directly in later books, but I’d love to see that connection explored at any stage of their lives. Feel free to bring in Bean if you wish! What I love most about this universe is the way in which training and (at its best) real growth are integral to making these kids who they become; I adore the technicalities and ins-and-outs of their education. I live in the moments when the kids access their compassion and higher modes of empathy and connection even when the adults around them have such questionable fucking ethics.

Some specific prompts:

-Space hijinks and justice! Ender or Petra or Ender+Petra figure out what’s going on and wrench the initial storyline in a particular unexpected direction?
-Bean doesn’t interrupt Petra’s plan and Petra and Ender kick some ass in that hallway, and go on to bond with each other OR MAYBE EVEN RE-EDUCATE BONZO WITH KINDNESS (or, you know, just beat him down/get him sent back. That’s okay too. If you wanted to write about Ender killing Bonzo despite the different setting and then working through that with Petra, I’m also in.)
-Ender’s acknowledgment that he worked his best lieutenants the hardest, and demanded most of them, is given more room to breathe, and maybe the two of them take a quiet moment to reflect on the world that might have been or the world they’ll now be responsible for building, through no choice of their own. Maybe Petra is like “you realize that leaning on the girl the hardest is kind of predictable, right?” Maybe they talk about Valentine!
-AU where they’re all in some other kind of high-stakes, competence-requiring world and Ender and Petra can find ways to relate that aren’t completely defined by the realities of their origin universe.
-Petra trying to navigate being a woman at Battle School and fucking killing it.
-I love Bean’s quiet blessing to his troops in the final battle. I would love to see what would happen if Ender and Petra knew the truth too, and what they might bring to bear on a battle that included that incredible weight. I also love the one-by-one introductions of his lieutenants when Ender first sits down to battle after training alone for some time; I would love to see what goes through his and Petra’s minds in that moment.
-REBELLION AGAINST THE AUTHORITY! The kids just spend some time in a Battle Room drifting and talking quietly, or god forbid, laughing, or they straight-up demolish that bullshit institution and turn it into something constructive and powerful, because fuck “we couldn’t have used you this way if you’d ever known the truth, kids” and “this was the only way to do it”.


Eroica Yori Ai o Komete—Klaus, Dorian
What I love most about Eroica is Klaus and Dorian’s uneasy but effective cooperation (I could definitely do without the violence against Dorian, but I appreciate that that’s part of the canon). I love the utter competence they each bring to their jobs, and the notion that they’re best together even when they don’t quite see it or understand it. I’m attached to what I interpret to be Klaus’ life of quiet, measured rebellion—his hair and his fuck-you-Chief attitude—and what that means for him in terms of finding his place in the world. I like Dorian’s merry band of thieves, and Dorian’s moments of thoughtfulness and maturity in looking after them. I like the Alphabet’s devotion to Klaus and what that might say about the kind of human being he must be under all that shouting. I think a lot about Dorian doing emotional labor even when he’s kind of being a shit, and about what it would mean for either of these two characters to instruct the other through some new experience or expose the other to a new way of thinking, truly, with sincere effort.

Some specific prompts:

-They’re getting old but have one more case left in them!
-Klaus and Dorian realizing that they make good partners by seeing themselves through others’ eyes.
-They’re approaching their respective retirements and bond over the training of new young whippersnappers.
-Klaus has to go undercover as an art historian and Dorian is a total shit when Klaus calls him for help to teach him the basics!
-They’ve ended up unwilling friends and call or write each other to gripe, and cannot believe how integral the other has become to their lives (romantically, if you want!)
-Most of these are future prompts because I know it can be tough to deal with the homophobia that’s such a large part of the in-period canon, but give me young Dorian and Klaus fucking shit up and standing up for each other where they can, and carving a space in their lives for their cantankerous but badass counterpart!


The Martian—Vogel, Martinez, Lewis, Johanssen
I was a great fan of the book and an only-very-slightly-less-enthusiastic fan of the movie. I’ve prompted the four characters who usually get less fic screentime but am happy to see any combination of them or the other two characters in the tagset (Watney and Beck). I love SCIENCE (probably particularly because I am NOT SCIENCE-SKILLED). I love that everyone knows how to do something, that there’s a way in which they all understand how to make a planet and the vast darkness of space yield shit up for them in terms of their expertise. I love how much of a family they clearly are, even if we mostly see that in glimpses. Lewis’ sense of what it means to be a leader is deeply satisfying to me; their collective sense of what sacrifices and risks are required—but also of which losses should not have to be borne—in the name of exploration make me feel all the feelings.

Some specific prompts:

-Any glimpse into ship life when Watney is on Mars, particularly their own attempts to science it out not only in terms of what he’s been up to and could get up to but also in terms of what he might need from them, in the worst-case scenarios they can probably all imagine.
-Martinez (or any of the others, in a canon twist) back in space, corresponding with others on Earth or elsewhere, shooting the shit and asking what the rest of the crew thinks about this or that challenge.
-SPACE OPERA.
-AU where someone else is stuck on Mars, or where more than one of them is stuck on Mars and that pair or group of people have to figure it out together.
-Historical AU where Mars isn’t in reach yet but opening a discotheque (yes, I typed the word “discotheque”) after returning from a space mission is.
-How did they come into the space program? Recruitment montage!


Genghis Khan—Gold Nose Villain, Secret Agent, Wife
This little video has brought me joy from when it appeared to this very day, when its eminently danceable tune puts me in the best of moods. I like all of the things it implies and all of the possibilities it opens, including thinking about some unexpected ones (my favorites). As you will see from the prompts below, I often try to think about how to turn the “abandoned Wife” thing on its head, but if you want to go with an interpretation where all her fury is about this, that’s fine—I would just be really thankful to not see her bashed or become an unfeeling automaton at odds with her warm smile at home, and particularly if you could find the way to a happy ending for all three of them. Happy to see any combination of characters.

Some specific prompts:
-The Wife was the primary villain all along, and they were all undercover in that house (the end-of-day alarm rings because she wants him to get back to base), and she’s furious that Gold Nose messed up the long game for love, and now has to find a way to complete the mission and protect his sorry ass, and she’s pissed as hell but equally determined that she will make it work, because fucking men but she still loves her friend.
-Any fill-in-the-blank: why is Gold Nose’s nose gold? Why is Secret Agent so sexy-ugly? Does he have a punk-rock past? Is Secret Agent secretly kind of incompetent? Is Gold Nose? Is either of their bumbling how the two of them fell in love? How does the Wife come into all of this? Is the European-version-of-a-Rockwell-painting house really what it seems? WHERE ARE THEY GETTING THESE KIDS/WHERE ARE THESE KIDS GOING?
-Gold Nose’s departure transforms the Wife, and she’s so fucking happy about it, because she needed it.
-Everything about the Wife learning to villain, and potentially Gold Nose/Secret Agent learning to live normal-ish lives.


Scrotal Recall (“Lovesick”)—Luke, Evie, Dylan
Will forever love these failboats, and would really appreciate seeing them continuing to struggle to grow up. Also will forever love the original show name, which Luke clearly came up with to describe Dylan’s experience (while doing a Schwarzenegger accent), and I will not give it up. I love their family dynamics; I love the ways in which they quietly call each other out to grow. I love how willing the show is to explore the vulnerable or earnest side of people, and the opportunities that sharing that side can open—sometimes characters are so painfully earnest that you want to die inside, but that’s okay. I am happy to see any combination of these characters, though I have to reveal my bias for Luke’s everything, and his biography that I think should be called Diary of a Secret Good. I also don’t think we’ve heard enough of Evie’s voice at all, and if you want to let her shout and teach and learn and fuck up and cry while front and center in your story, that would be delightful.

Some prompts:

-Luke In Therapy Forever. (Not like, he has to be in therapy forever. I forever will read about Luke in therapy.). He learns new things, he gets happier and stronger, he becomes committed to making others happier and stronger, with fine-wine 1980/90s film examples to help.
-Five Years In The Future Fic where maybe Jonesy and Luke got married first (to each other or otherwise) and no one can believe it, and Evie and Dylan continue to learn what it takes to make something work, but are quietly nourished by it every day.
-Anything about their professional lives! These fucking people, going to award shows and bowling parties, but what the fuck do they actually do all day? Helping each other out and propping each other up in their successes and failures outside of love.
-Re: professional lives, Dylan quietly gardening out back, and the three of them building the garden of their dreams.
-Any quiet moment of friendship or love between these characters, or maybe a glimpse into a future where they’re not as physically proximate as they used to be and are still each other’s rocks, which requires inventiveness.
-Or a look into that house, Dylan+Evie and Luke! If you want to go the OT3 route, that’s perfectly fine, A-OK-hooray by me, though we should all bow to Jonesy’s awesomeness, I feel, so I would be eternally grateful if you gave her the fabulous exit she would all but demand from life.
-I think one of the things I love best about the show is how real it feels sometimes for someone in the characters’ age group: what the fuck are we supposed to be doing? What is partnership? What is timing? How do you know? What is certainty of any sort? I’d love to see them navigate another life moment like this one (having kids; becoming managers or leaders at work; realizing they don’t want to do the work they do except now they’re 50 instead of 30; looking after parents).
-The gang “watching” a Luke film retelling.


Pushing Daisies—Ned, Olive, Emerson, Chuck
It’s become a bit of a Yuletide tradition for me to nominate at least one show for atmosphere, for all the things it evokes and the way in which certain images and tropes jump to the forefront of your mind when you watch it or think about it. This year for me it was looking through the tagset and seeing Pushing Daisies and immediately being filled with all that chromatically dazzling, warm sunlight feeling of watching weird people eating delicious pies and interviewing gory cadavers. I was just suffused with the pleasure I took from its quirkiness and beauty and its ragtag band of misfits when I first watched it. Anything that celebrates those things will make my heart sing, and casefic would be a joy explosion! I’m happy to see the characters in any combination, and I’m not particularly attached to canon pairings (though I’d be happy to see them), so do whatever calls to you. I haven’t watched the show in a while but I realized immediately how badly I’d want to read fic about it right now when I was browsing the tag set, so if my specifics feel a bit thin, please don’t interpret this as this fandom being less preferable to me, but rather as me trying incredibly hard to reconnect with it!

Some specific prompts:

-Completely self-indulgent AU—Olive Snook and Emerson Cod: The Childhood Years, where it was Olive and Emerson who grew up next door to each other, and who find themselves 20 years later trying to make sense of the sad baker for whom Olive now works, and whose secret they have figured out.
-So much beautiful fruit and so much beautiful pie just makes me feel like I want to see them bake and bake and bake, and whether that’s in their universe or another, I would welcome all the food porn.
-Emerson leaves investigation to make the pop-up books of his dreams, and perhaps they’re somewhat gory hardboiled detective pop-up books, but people are into them after all.
-The gang on a case, eating copious quantities of macaroni and cheese at The Intrepid Cow as they try to make sense of a victim’s mysterious last words.
-Six years, two months, and five hours after falling in love with the Pie Maker a second time, Chuck tripped on an errant top hat left behind in the home by one of his magician half-brothers, and before she or he could stop it, she tumbled headlong into Ned’s arms, which were pinwheeling away from her as fast as he could make them. Six years, two months, five hours and seventeen seconds later, she was somehow not dead.
-The facts were these: despite the seeming impossibility of it, letters addressed to the Pie Maker written by people he long thought dead-again kept arriving at the house in Coeur d’ Coeurs.




Yuletide Writer, as usual this letter is a novel, and I hope it was helpful or informative rather than feeling like A Lot. All of this is meant to be generative if you want it, never prescriptive, and totally dismissible if nothing strikes your fancy; you should write a story you truly enjoy, which I am certain I will enjoy in turn. Thank you so much again for writing for me, unknown friend.

Dear Writer,

First of all, thank you for offering to write in these fandoms. I had a great Yuletide last year and am really looking forward to this year.

Second, this letter is long as hell. Read what is helpful! Ignore what is not!

Okay. I'll get "do not wants" out of the way first: gore, extreme violence, rape or abuse, hatred, cruelty, discrimination, or seeing a character face unrelenting injustice. I would strongly prefer a story that does not end in, or exclusively deal with, death and/or sadness. Even the mention of death after a full, happy life in fic makes me a bit sad; I appreciate that a world with no death is unrealistic, but fic is a place where I can escape that at the moment.

Things I enjoy! Found families and teams and groups of people working their way through life together, pining that resolves, dorks, epistolary fic of all sorts, strong friendships based on a sense of utter trust and knowledge of each other, crossovers, dangerously competent people, grew-up-together fic, curtainfic, supernatural creatures (why not), hijinks and shenanigans-dialogue, kidfic, Regency AUs, friends who are trying to figure out how to love each other in a new way (and it's awkward but great).

Trope on, Tropey McTroperson: amnesia, woke-up-married, pretend-to-be-dating, pretend-not-to-be-dating, arranged marriage, best friends who somehow can’t communicate with each other even though they’re horrifically in love, the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-fuck-you-only-I-get-to-antagonise-that-person-I-will-smite-all-other-enemies fic. I’m cool with A/B/O and mpreg if that’s the story that calls to you, though they're not my preferred tropes.

If you’re writing sex, I can genuinely get into pretty much every kink that doesn’t involve scat or vomit or severe bodily harm or diapers or infantilising. I like healthy and respectful explorations of sexual power dynamics, in all their forms. I also enjoy plain old-fashioned lurve making. Also, makeouts 4 lyfe.

If you have specific questions about me, nicolasechs, best of wives is your woman.

Onward to the specific fandoms:

In Eroica, I love Klaus and Dorian’s uneasy but effective cooperation, and the utter competence they each bring to their jobs. I love the notion that they’re best together (not necessarily romantically) even when they don’t quite see it or understand it. I love what I interpret to be Klaus’ life of quiet rebellion—his hair and his fuck-you-Chief attitude—and what that means for him in terms of finding a space in which to live in the world. I like Dorian’s merry band of thieves, and I love the idea that Dorian reveals a kind of maturity when he looks after them. I like the Alphabet’s devotion to Klaus and what that says about what kind of human being he must be under all the shouting. I like to think about how Dorian might be able to quietly guide Klaus through some new experience—emotional or sexual or professional—in a quiet way that surprises Klaus, or about how Klaus might learn from Dorian being loud, not because he likes it but because Dorian has things to teach.

A situation where Klaus and Dorian work with another set of partners and realise that they are also partners—despite what they might think—as a result would be really fun. Klaus-finds/is given/mysteriously procures-a-child-and-Dorian-incompetently-helps-him-look-after-it-(not-necessarily-as-a-couple), if that’s your thing? (I can’t imagine how he would possibly cope but if you can, power to you.) They’re both older and are tired of how much work it is to be Iron Klaus and Eroica (Klaus/Dorian gets some young new subordinate and the two of them catch themselves rolling their eyes at each other like fuck me, this kid). Klaus has to go undercover as an art historian and Dorian is a total shit when Klaus calls him for help to teach him the basics!

Fuck, fic where they've ended up unwilling friends, and maybe Dorian is teaching at university, or helping to curate a small and exclusive gallery, and Klaus is supervising the training of young agents, and they call or write each other to gripe and Klaus cannot believe this idiot has actually become the most important person in his life. Maybe then they fall in love, if that's your thing as well as mine.

(A quick final note on this fandom: I am aware that it's canon-compliant to set Eroica fic in a world that isn't great about queer people and queer relationships; I would prefer a story that didn't deal heavily or exclusively with homophobia, though.)

____

Scrotal Recall: So I wrote Scrotal Recall fic last year (I will never call this show by its new name. Never!) and I had such a wonderful time writing it that it made me realise just how much I loved the show. I love the friendship between Luke, Evie, and Dylan, and how they're all failboating through life as a family of sorts. I love how willing the show is to explore the vulnerable or earnest side of people and relationships—sometimes people are painfully earnest, but that's okay, even if it makes you want to die inside.

I have only requested Luke, though I would be happy to see the other nominated (or even not-nominated) characters. I love seeing Luke be a good friend; I'd love to see Luke be happy. A completely self-indulgent prompt: I'd love to see the Phoebe incident be reimagined in a way that doesn't take away from what Luke learns from it, but which has Phoebe alive at the end. I think it would be amazing to see Luke try to make space for Phoebe in his life in a way that includes Dylan and his and Phoebe's past relationship (as well as Evie).

I'm interested in what led Luke to the moment at the end of season 1, and in the fall-out of the pub incident; I'm interested in Mumcut and how Luke got to where he is as a person. My fic last year dealt with the bucket list, but I'd love to find out more about it from someone else's perspective.

I'd love to see Luke's balls-to-the-wall approach to talking to others (I think he'd call it "balls to the wall", every time) crash hard into him liking someone and not knowing quite what to do: trying to fake it 'til he makes it and then realising he needs some help, maybe? I'd love a quiet moment of friendship between him and any of the other characters in the show. Lately I've been thinking I'd really be into Evie, Dylan, and Luke realising the three of them do better together than apart, though I'm still working around to figuring out how their three very different personalities would mesh in a relationship. If you know this already, I would love to find out.

____

I Want to Go Home: I loved these books as a kid, and basically wanted to be Gordon Korman, child writer, as much as I wanted pretty much anything in life. The things I like best—to this day, as a grown-ass adult woman—are the wonderful zaniness of pretty much every plot he has, and the totally improbable (but, let's face it, so appealing) mega-competence of his protagonists.

If you're writing something set during canon, I'd love to see a moment between Mike and Rudy where Rudy allows himself to not be too cool for school for a hot second and allows himself to show real appreciation for Mike. If that takes the form of Mike making an integral contribution to one of their schemes, to Rudy's surprise and delight, all the better. It'd be great to see Mike teach Rudy something, or even the other way around: Rudy seems to know how to do everything, but he isn't the most generous with his knowledge, and it'd be really lovely to see him learn how to share what he knows with someone, and how to be patient (for a moment, because let's face it: Rudy Miller isn't going to be patient for anyone in the long term) and see it pay off. Anything where they write each other letters after camp would be wonderful for me, and if they're awkwardly confessing their love, well—A++. It's totally fine if they're not, though: I'd just like to see them stay in each other's lives.

If you don't want to write about camp, I love the idea that Mike and Rudy stay in touch and continue to build lives that are parallel and involve the other for many years after that summer. I think they're made for each other: if they're building a life romantically, I will be delighted, but I also think they would become the kind of bone-deep support for each other that wouldn't really go away, not through anything, and I'd love to see that friendship explored. If they're not together, I'd love to see one or the other dealing with something difficult and the other bringing his own brand of comfort—actual comfort, or not-at-all comfort—to the other. I'd love to see a moment where Rudy slows down (maybe because he has to? Or because he's finally ready to?) in his accomplishments or career, and sees how there's wisdom in Mike's patience and ability to go with the flow. I would love a fic where they have each other's backs in a professional setting, or maybe where Mike has... secretly turned out to be more successful than Rudy, and Rudy has a moment first of realisation and then of true happiness for him?

I basically love that Rudy makes space and time for Mike when he basically has no space or time for anyone; I think the same is true of Mike—he has space and time for plenty of people, but he makes a particular space and has particular time for Rudy. Anything that explores that will make me very happy; feel free to bring in any other characters, too.

____

Pitch: I started watching this show a few weeks ago with a cautious set of expectations, and I have really, really enjoyed it so far. It makes me so happy to see an idea with which fic has actually been playing around for a long time—about what it might be like to be an incredibly talented woman in an exclusively male sport—and do it well.

I have nominated Ginny, Mike, and Blip for the particular reason that there's something about their possible shared dynamic that fascinates me (but I wouldn't mind you playing with whatever combination of these three characters inspires you the most). As you can probably tell from all of these prompts, I love moments of generous instruction between individuals, and I was so fucking happy to see Blip point Mike in the right direction when it came to being the kind of teammate that Ginny deserves. Anything that continues to explore that would fill me with joy: I'd love to know why it is that Blip has Ginny's back so fully (is it his genuine decency and generosity? The fact that Evelyn took him aside and gave him his own talking-to, hard? That he saw Ginny's dedication first-hand, like Mike did? Some combination of all of these things, or something else?), and I'd really to see him teach Mike how to see with... clearer eyes. Better eyes, honestly. I'd love any moment of siblinghood between Blip and Ginny, or maybe Ginny trying to teach Blip and Mike something (baseball-related or otherwise) and having them both fail utterly at it?

I have to admit that early exposure to Mark-Paul Gosselaar has kind of put me in a place where I wouldn't mind if Mike and Ginny got it on. I know that'd be difficult given what we know about Ginny so far, and there'd have to be a lot of negotiation for it to be good for them both, but... I'm into it. Future fic where he's retired and Ginny's house-husband would be A-okay by me.

Finally, anything with Ginny will make me happy. I don't know enough about her and I want to learn where her vulnerable parts are and how she got that frame of steel, and I want to see her really carve out her place in the team (with others ideally stepping up and helping make a space for her).

(I should mention that if Ginny/Blip is what calls to you, I'd really appreciate seeing Evelyn treated super respectfully, and no infidelity, please.)

____

Finally, in this long-ass letter, Stranger Things! Like almost everyone who is a child of the 80s, I loved this show a fuckton. I put off watching it and then binge-watched the whole thing in one day, and I regret nothing.

The thing I love most about the show is its atmosphere: I love that 80s trope of kids (and teenagers) existing in a space separate from adults (and a little outside of time), basically being competent scientists and fighters and just really... excellent to each other. I nominated Eleven, Lucas, Mike, and Dustin because I really wanted to see something with the younger kids, but I would be really happy to see any other character make an appearance, and I'd also be happy if you played around with whatever kid-character combination worked for you.

If adventure fic where the kids continue to tackle the terrifying forces in their midst works for you, delightful, but I'd be just as happy to figure out how Lucas, Mike, Dustin (and Will) became friends, or to see Eleven and Lucas, or Eleven and Dustin, have a good moment of understanding that we didn't get to see on screen. I would LOVE to see a world ten years later where Eleven is back and the kids are young adults who are still close and trying to figure out life: it's a lot to ask, but I would lovelovelove to see that world ten years in the future with a side helping of the gang trying to figure out a mystery (maybe they've become... experts of the Upside Down and the paranormal, of a sort?), but dealing with the complications that come with being an adult who can't hide someone under a table in the basement (or, well, I suppose you could).

If Eleven comes back, any moment of... stillness between the kids would be great: for all her superhero powers, for all her strength, she's still just a kid, and at this point she's a kid who's killed a bunch of people. How do the others deal with that? How do they make her feel like she's one of them anyway? How do she and Will connect in particular ways because of what they've seen, and how do the others feel about that bond?

To get back to atmosphere, I would love to see anything that explores how the kids (and the teenagers, if you like) of the show deal with the quiet creepiness that hangs over their town, which they've now seen. I'd love to see Eleven return, and to see fic exploring what it would mean for the other four to try and make sure she was safe and had a family and anything approaching the life of a normal kid—maybe with the help of some of the adults? I basically want to see walkie-talkie shenanigans until the day I die (maybe an entity fries the cell phones owned by everyone at the Upside Down paranormal detective agency in the future, but... the walkie-talkies, sitting in a box in the office, mysteriously still work?).

Finally, I mentioned epistolary fic right at the top, and I wonder: once Eleven is gone, do letters maybe start appearing in Mike's and Dustin's and Lucas' (and Will's) families' mailboxes? Dusty, misspelled, full of weird made-up words, authorship absolutely clear? Is Eleven asking for help through the weave between worlds, and if so: how are they going to get her back?

Yuletide writer, I've written a lot—as is my wont—but I hope that's inspiring or helpful: my verbal vomit does not in any way mean to be prescriptive, and, most of all, I hope you will write a story you really enjoy. I will enjoy it immensely too.

Thank you so much, and happy Yule!