elen_nare | Dear Yuletide Writer letter

Dear Yuletide Writer,

First, thank you so much for this! Here are general notes, and some ideas for each fandom. This may seem long, but I'm just trying to make it as detailed as possible in case that makes it easier for you. I adore each and every one of these fandoms, so getting fic for any of them will make me a very, very happy person!

General stuff:

A character piece, a plotty story, an exploration of friendship or romance, an adventure, a quiet moment, a missing scene, a different POV to the canon... Any and all of these are great! Gen, het, slash, femslash, are all fine. Ratings-wise, I’m fine with anything. I’m happy with (of age, consensual) sex scenes if that’s where the story’s going - though gen fic is equally awesome! I’m not too fond of highly detailed graphic violence, but if it’s absolutely necessary to your fic, go ahead.

Feel free to look through my journal for inspiration :) You can also find me on AO3 and on Tumblr.

Things I like: friendship, friends helping each other out, humour, banter, nerdiness, science, happy (or happy-ish at least, not overwhelming despair) endings, sibling love (and family interactions in general), found families, friends-to-lovers, mutual pining that resolves in friends-to-lovers… and a great many other things! These were just the first that came to mind.

Do Not Wants: suicide - I’d prefer it if you didn’t kill any major characters (other than canon deaths), but if you absolutely must, please avoid suicide! - , noncon/dubcon, incest, gratuitous violence, underage sex, unrelieved gloom and angst, character/ship bashing, AUs. While I don’t mind “reasonable” crossovers with fandoms I know (same world and time period, canonical time/world change shenanigans), please keep the main focus on the requested fandom.

Fandom specific:

Listed in alphabetical order. Obviously, all optional details are optional! I'm just giving them in case you're interested (or utterly stuck for ideas and wondering why you ever offered to write this fandom :P). For the “ideas” lists, they’re absolutely not intended to be mutually exclusive, nor exhaustive - mix, blend, combine, as you like, or throw them out the window! I include them in my letters because I’ve found them really useful myself :) Spoilers abound I’m afraid, so if there’s something on here you’re interested in reading/watching and haven’t yet, I’d avoid that section. Feel free to include any other characters, nominated or not.

Also, a brief “where do I find these things” in case you’d like to check out any of them:
Chalet School: at 50-odd books, this is a long canon! And may be hard to find as most haven’t been reprinted… The best advice I can give you is to point you in the direction of The CBB, the folks there are very helpful.
High Rollers Aerois: Another long canon, at 125 and counting 3h episodes. On Youtube and Twitch as videos, also available as a podcast.
High Rollers Curse of Strahd: Somewhat more manageable at 37 total 2h episodes, on youtube and the same twitch and spotify channels.
Swallows and Amazons: 12 book series, all in print and available as ebooks I believe.

Chalet School series - Hilda Annersley, Nell Wilson

I just love these two women and their relationship. They’re quite different in many ways, but they complement each other perfectly. If you’re a long-time Yuletider you may remember this request as I make it pretty much every year - I have received some wonderful fics, and that just whets my appetite for more!

A few ideas:

Their first meeting and the start of their friendship, back in Tirol.
Dealing with unruly schoolgirls (in any stage of the school’s life)! The middles’ absurd pranks are always fun. Alternately, helping a girl in trouble.
Rebuilding the school after having to flee Austria - how did their exile change them?
The challenges either or both of them faced when they first took up the Headship of the school.
A holiday together (perhaps not the ill-fated one in “Gay from China” - or if you like that one, please don’t end with the accident and everyone despairing of Hilda surviving! I wouldn’t mind the accident being in it, but don’t end it there, please).
Hilda’s recovery - there’s Nell’s visit to her at half-term mentioned in “Mystery”, and she shows up for the play, but really we don’t get much of it! Or her return at the start of "Rosalie"- we don't exactly see much of it from her perspective.
Learning to work together as co-Heads - how easy or hard was it? Did they clash a lot? What differences did they find, going from Senior Mistress and Head to Co-Heads?
Retiring - did they stay in Switzerland, go back to England, split time between the two, go somewhere else entirely? Perhaps they travel before settling down, visit Old Girls scattered around the globe... how do the School and St Mildred’s say goodbye to them? Who takes over as Head?

What I love about this fandom: I’ve always liked school stories in general, but since I started reading the Chalet School they’ve become some of my favourites in the genre. I love how much personality the teachers have, rather than being simply authority figures; how we get to hear about old characters; the way the school grows and evolves, but remains true to its ideals; the war books; and so on and so forth.

What I love about these characters: They’re both such strong women, who have been through so much, and only come out stronger. I love Nell’s sarcasm, and her courage, and Hilda’s kindness, and I love the friendship and love between them. I definitely ship them, but I’d be happy with them portrayed as friends, a platonic relationship, a romantic one, anything in between... I don’t need them to be in love - just to love each other :) (Of course, if you do want to ship them, that’s great!)

High Rollers (Aerois campaign) - Qillek Ad Khollar, Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto

I love our squishy magic boys very much, and would love anything about them. I would also be delighted to see any or all of the main cast as co-stars, I love them all! This is a tricky one because it’s an ongoing canon (I won’t update the letter so you don’t have to re-check it, you can probably find me yelling on tumblr if there are any huge developments!), but here are a few ideas:

Quill let his family think he was dead after the lightning strike - did Lucius losing his family make him rethink that decision at all? And now we have met Mireeka, who I utterly love! Her Sendings, we know where Quill gets his passive-aggressive snippiness from now; her “you are not nothing, you are my son!” and “this is a good child” lines; how thrilled Lucius was to meet her… So if you want to bring her in, please go ahead (Mireeka tells the gang adorable/embarrassing baby Quill stories? Quill tries - maybe with Lucius’s urging/support - to reconnect with her?).
The whole “Elenasto fiasco” arc was such a pivotal part of Lucius’s character growth, anything set around there could be interesting (I love Edea, Nanny, and Aridan, if you want to bring any/all of them in; I’m not so keen on Belanor).
Similarly, the Valley of Storms arc was huge for Quill, if you want to look at that! Or Quill getting his new wing, that was such a beautiful and moving moment :) We didn’t see Sentry or Lucius’s reactions to it, if you want to look at those?
There’s been a few “big” time skips, in Gusthaven, on the Stormchaser, on the Twinstar Longbow, the month after the Horizon/Voracitor stuff - what did they do in those? But there’s also just the natural gaps of travelling, camping, and so on; I love quiet conversations and missing moments.
I very much ship Quill and Lucius! So anything shippy between the two of them would delight me :) I’ve also got into Quill/Lucius/Aridan recently (as you can see from my fics), if that interests you. I love Faeth and her relationship with Lucius, as a platonic, asexual one, so so much - that representation is important to me.
The party meeting on the Sparrowblade? How have Quill and Lucius’s opinions of everyone changed over time?
Lucius. Talk. To. Your. Friends. About. Your. Trauma. PLEASE. Honestly, they could both do with talking to their friends - Lucius is dealing with losing his parents, the dragon-turtle encounter, and all his insecurities; and Quill with H’esper sacrificing himself for him, and all his anxiety… SInce they probably won’t in canon, I’d love to see it in fic!

What I love about this fandom: So much! I’ve loved seeing them come together, from strangers to willing to die for each other. I love the world of Aerois, the fantasy-sci-fi vibes. I like how well-intentioned they are, and also how utterly terrible they can be at communicating those good intentions at times! I also enjoy having my heart broken by cruel uncaring plastic polyhedrons, apparently. You can find plenty of my ramblings about it over on tumblr! I’m pretty familiar with 5e if you want to have fun with game mechanics, but I’m also totally happy with ignoring them for better narrative.

What I love about these characters: Quill, my darling bird boi, I love and may identify just a bit with his worrying and nervousness, how he tries to plan for every eventuality. I also love how he is slowly gaining in confidence, both in his abilities and in his friends. I like his game-breakingly ridiculous perception and how it still never saves them from getting brookstoned ;) Lucius, I love how very much he loves his friends, how he’ll risk anything for them (even as it utterly terrifies me at times with how very squishy he is). I love how much he’s grown from the sheltered daddy’s boy he was at the start, but also how he still sometimes has that endearing naivete, still loves his shiny hair and fancy clothes. And with both of them, I love how much they support each other and how highly they think of each other - how Lucius repeatedly praises Quill’s intelligence, how Quill goes all starry-eyed when Lucius does cool magic things like mind-controlling a mindflayer.

High Rollers (Curse of Strahd campaign) - any

I would be delighted to see any or all of the PCs (including Shadow, Dogsbody, Alvaski, and Xiros), I love them all! Strahd is a dark campaign of course, so if you’re worried about how that plays with my DNW list - I’m fine with up to Mark’s level of descriptions for violence and battles and such; I know there’s probably going to be a fair bit of gloom and grief, but maybe have some hope or light in there too, even if it’s a small or distant or temporary thing? Here are a few ideas for the nominated characters:

Xiiki: How did she feel about her pact? Did she *want* Barovia, did she start wanting it more as the Mists sank their claws deeper into her? How does she feel about ending up in Avernus - is it a better fate than the Mists, or not? She got away into the Forgotten Realms at the end - what are her plans now? Does she want to try to help the others, and/or her brother, or just escape? Where did her connection with Liira come from, and is there any of it left?
Yesper has lost so much… Madame Eva first - he said he’d never have made the deal Xiros made, but deep down, did he ever consider it? How did he feel after speaking with her soul in Avernus? But also, the Vistani were cast from Strahd’s favour, the camp near Vallaki destroyed - how did he feel about that? How is he dealing with his death and resurrection? Is he still super freaked out by the Mire, or is he gradually getting used to them? How is he dealing with the Barovians (and Vistani) being taken by Amodeus, with the knowledge his soul, too, is bound to Asmodeus now? What is he (and the others) trying to do about that?
Rose, werewolf slayer, monster hunter - Barovia was the worst place she could imagine, probably. How is she dealing with Shadow’s loss, with finally laying her to rest? How okay was she with werewolf Dogsbody, really? With the Mire? They were able to get Yesper back, but not Shadow - how does she feel about that? Or about Vasilka and Alvaski and the Abbot?
The Mire is such a fascinating character/characters! How do they see the rest of the party? How do they see themselves? Is any of their creepiness deliberate, or do they simply not understand how they come across? And I am super intrigued by their split decisions in the finale - had they been slowly growing separate, and it didn’t fully show until then? What happened to each of them?
If you want to write ship-fic, I don’t have any particular OTPs here but can see pretty much any pairing (except with the Mire and Alvaski, maybe). There’s the Trott-endorsed Yesper and Xiros enemies to lovers / hate sex, of course (if you wanted an excuse to write it, this can be the excuse :P). Rose and Yesper, lost grieving humans trying to find some semblance of joy in Barovia? Xiros and Dogsbody, who was the closest to a friend Xiros had? Rose and Xiiki, who would be better able than Xiiki to understand Rose’s grief over her brother? Xiiki and Dogsbody, after that conversation they had in Argyn Vostholt? Rose and Dogsbody, with Rose working to overcome her understandable fear, and Dogsbody falling for someone who’d do that for him?

What I love about this fandom: I’m currently playing a couple of Strahd campaigns, and I love the changes Mark has introduced! I love the complicated and fractured team dynamics, how incredibly messy they got so quickly. I’m pretty familiar with 5e if you want to have fun with game mechanics, but I’m also totally happy with ignoring them for better narrative. I’m also fairly familiar with the module.

What I love about these characters: I love Xiiki’s longing to bring joy, and willingness to do anything for her brother; Rose’s strength of character and pragmatism; Yesper’s courage and determination to see their destiny through; the Mire’s eerie strangeness.

Swallows and Amazons - Peggy Blackett

It was incredibly hard to choose characters for this fandom, so feel free to bring in any and all others you like as co-stars! I just want to see more of Peggy. A few ideas:

Childhood adventures at the lake? A missing moment from any of the books would be lovely… Another houseboat battle, like the one Nancy was planning at the end of Pigeon Post? Going up to the mine again to see how it’s progressed? Another trip to Secret Water? The first part of the Sea Bear trip?
Or pre-books, Peggy and Nancy’s first adventures as Amazon pirates!
In fact, in general, I’d enjoy seeing Peggy and Nancy’s sibling relationship - particularly on their own, as Peggy tends to spend a lot of time when the others are there trying to be Nancy? Or Peggy reflecting on her relationship with Nancy through the mirror of the Swallows and/or the Ds’s sibling bonds?
Growing up and leaving schooldays behind - what’s it like, as the elders start leaving? Does Peggy captain Amazon, does she steal crew from the Swallows? What does she want to do when she leaves school? I remember reading that one of the possible real-life inspirations for Peggy became a musician, which is intriguing…
As an adult, pre, during, or post war – what does she do, how does the war affect her? I can see Peggy in the WRENS, or a naval nurse?
If you’re pulled in a shippy direction, I don’t have any OTPs for Peggy, though I have been intrigued by Susan/Peggy recently, but I can be sold on most ships I think. The one I’m not keen on is John/Peggy (I am sorry if it’s your ship - nothing against it, I just love John/Nancy too much). And I will be equally delighted with gen-fic!

What I love about this fandom: It’s one of my favourite book series ever. I love the way there’s never a sense of just “playing pretend” – they are (to themselves, at least) pirates or explorers or miners or an arctic expedition or martyrs or picts... I like how everyone works together, and how hard they work – how they all bring something to the team, and how they’re all valued. I like how they can be friends without having to be all the same; how they respect each other, even if they don’t see eye to eye on some things.

What I love about this character: I love Peggy’s loyalty, how she commits so deeply to whatever wild plan Nancy has - but also how she can question it and ground it when necessary, can stand up for herself (like the “argument and a half” over Amazon vanishing when Titty took her). She gets overshadowed by Nancy a lot in the books, so I’d like to see her take center stage :)