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Dear Yuletide Writer letter 2024
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, epistolary fic, wordplay… 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 graphic violence, underage sex, unrelieved gloom and angst, character/ship bashing, AUs. While I'd enjoy “reasonable” crossovers with fandoms I know (same world and time period, or canonical time/world change shenanigans), please keep the main focus on the requested fandom.
A brief “where do I find these things” in case you’d like to check out any of the other things I've requested:
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.
Chalet School series - Jane Carew (Jose Helston optional)
I did a re-read recently and remembered how much I adore Jane, and how much I wish she didn’t pretty much vanish after her book - so give me more Jane, please! I really love her friendship with Jose too, and how Jose is a link back to the Tirol books through being Veta’s daughter - but I especially want Jane.
Fandom-specific DNW: I am not a huge fan of the “Jack Lambert bullies Jane” arc, so I would rather it not be the focus.
A few ideas:
What I love about these characters: I love Jane’s eagerness and friendliness, how she always tries to make the best of things and give the best of herself in everything she does. I enjoy her little theatre mannerisms, how she calls everyone “darling”. I love Jose’s independence, how she doesn’t want much made of her as a princess-in-exile or as the daughter of a beloved Old Girl (and how Jane likewise doesn’t want to be lionized for her parents), and her kindness to Jane.
High Rollers (Aerois campaign) - Qillek Ad Khollar, Sentry
I would be delighted to see any or all of the main cast as co-stars, I love them all! Here are a few ideas:
.
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’s slowly grown 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 ;) Sentry, I love her kindness, her protectiveness, her devotion to her loved ones. Her one-liners never fail to be a punch in the heart in the best way! And with both of them, I love how much they support each other, rely on each other - how Sentry is Quill’s protector, how Quill is Sentry’s squire.
High Rollers (Curse of Strahd campaign) - any
I would be delighted to see any or all of the PCs (including the un-nominated ones), 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:
What I love about this fandom: I’ve played 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 Rose’s strength of character and pragmatism; Yesper’s courage and determination to see their destiny through; the Mire’s eerie strangeness; Shadow's calm in the face of horror.
Marjorie Dean series - Leila Harper, Vera Mason
I read the whole series recently and absolutely loved these two - anything centering on them would delight me!
Fandom specific DNW: I really dislike Leila getting randomly paired off with Peter Cairns in the last book - please ignore that!
A few ideas:
What I love about this fandom: I love school stories and these are an excellent set - granted they're a bit moralising at times, but I enjoy the adventures and plays and expeditions they get up to. I do also really like the girls' stand for democracy and fairness!
What I love about these characters: I love Leila’s quick wits, her humour, her mercurial moods. I love Vera’s quieter but equally quick and funny manner, how they play off each other. I think it’s interesting how their relatively unhappy family backgrounds make them a great foil to the "bad (especially spoilt/snobbish) girls are motherless and motherless girls are bad" tendency of the books.
Shakespeare & Hathaway - Luella Shakespeare, Frank Hathaway, Sebastian Brudenell (any combination)
I would love to see any combination of Luella, Frank, and Sebastian!
What I love about this fandom: I love the disaster trio and how they somehow always make it through! I really enjoy cosy murder mysteries, and these are such a good example of the genre. I love the Shakespeare references even though I’m sure I miss a lot of them, especially to the Histories.
What I love about these characters: I love all their snarkiness and ribbing each other, and even more I love the genuine affection that underlies it all. I love Luella’s passion and determination, Frank’s more world-weary dogged persistence, Sebastian grumbling but always helping out.
Swallows and Amazons - Timothy Stedding, James Turner
It was incredibly hard to choose a character for this fandom, so feel free to bring in any and all others you like as co-stars! A few ideas:
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” – the children 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. And I like how the adults, while more on the edges of the stories, are very much people too, with their own strengths and flaws - and how they interact with the kids!
What I love about these characters: I love Timothy’s shyness, and also how in an emergency he suddenly becomes incredibly levelheaded and brave and competent. The way he lets himself be fended off on High Topps rather than have to go through a pack of children, and his despairing acquiescence with Nancy’s plans in Picts and Martyrs, are a delight. Jim must be in good standing for a “best fictional uncle ever” award! Maybe he loses some points for going all reclusive in the first book, but he certainly makes up for it after that. I love how he supports the kids, all the work he does to make sure Nancy’s maddest plans can actually happen.
Thank you for reading, and happy writing!
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, epistolary fic, wordplay… 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 graphic violence, underage sex, unrelieved gloom and angst, character/ship bashing, AUs. While I'd enjoy “reasonable” crossovers with fandoms I know (same world and time period, or canonical time/world change shenanigans), please keep the main focus on the requested fandom.
A brief “where do I find these things” in case you’d like to check out any of the other things I've requested:
- Chalet School: 50ish books, many now on Faded Page! (Sadly, Jane and The Chalet School is not there yet.)
- High Rollers Aerois: A long canon, at 191 3h episodes. On youtube as videos, also available as a podcast. And we have a Wiki! Still a work in progress, but we have Mark's recaps transcribed for all episodes and are working on full recaps, plus character pages, items, and so on.
- High Rollers Curse of Strahd: Comparatively manageable at 37 total 2h episodes, on youtube and the same spotify channel.
- Marjorie Dean: 14 book series, broken into three sub-series of 4/4/6 books - they're pretty quick reads, Goodreads puts them at ~250 pages. Project Gutenberg has all of them!
- Shakespeare & Hathaway: Four 10-episode series. Looks like Amazon and YouTube may have it?
- Swallows and Amazons: 12 books, all on Faded Page, or in print.
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.
Chalet School series - Jane Carew (Jose Helston optional)
I did a re-read recently and remembered how much I adore Jane, and how much I wish she didn’t pretty much vanish after her book - so give me more Jane, please! I really love her friendship with Jose too, and how Jose is a link back to the Tirol books through being Veta’s daughter - but I especially want Jane.
Fandom-specific DNW: I am not a huge fan of the “Jack Lambert bullies Jane” arc, so I would rather it not be the focus.
A few ideas:
- More school plays - something her form gets up? Another last-minute substitution? Maybe she and Jose go on to St Mildred’s and star in the pantomime?
- More of Jane adapting to being at school, away from her parents and the life she’s always known - is there anyone in the theatrical company she misses particularly?
- Jane’s trip to visit her mother in Australia? Do she and Jose write while she’s there? Does she get to know Josette and Sybil? Or spend time with Margot and Emerence?
- Fatherless Jose must have sympathised with Jane’s worry for her mother after the accident - something around that time?
- Do either or both of them become prefects?
- The dropped plotline in Challenge with Evelyn getting proprietary of Jane and potential explosions in the offing?
- What do Jane and Jose do after leaving school? Does Jane go on to act? Does Jose manage to get barrister training, or decide she wants to do something else in the end?
What I love about these characters: I love Jane’s eagerness and friendliness, how she always tries to make the best of things and give the best of herself in everything she does. I enjoy her little theatre mannerisms, how she calls everyone “darling”. I love Jose’s independence, how she doesn’t want much made of her as a princess-in-exile or as the daughter of a beloved Old Girl (and how Jane likewise doesn’t want to be lionized for her parents), and her kindness to Jane.
High Rollers (Aerois campaign) - Qillek Ad Khollar, Sentry
I would be delighted to see any or all of the main cast as co-stars, I love them all! Here are a few ideas:
- Quill let his family think he was dead after the lightning strike - did Lucius losing his family, or Sentry’s grief over Solwynn, ever make him rethink that decision at all? And we met Mireeka, who I utterly love! Her Sendings, we know where Quill gets his passive-aggressive snippiness from; her “you are not nothing, you are my son!” and “this is a good child” lines; how thrilled everyone was to meet her… So if you want to bring her in, please go ahead, I will be delighted! Mireeka tells the gang adorable/embarrassing baby Quill stories? Quill tries to reconnect with her and the rest of his family?
- Sentry finding Petal again was so so beautiful and makes me cry every time. Tell me about their life in Solwynn? Sentry telling Quill about it? Their life in Horizon post-canon, with Quill dropping in to visit?
- 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?
- Likewise, everything with becoming the Prime, and fighting Voracitor, was so huge for Sentry! Did she have any doubts, any fears, any hopes, she might have only told Quill about?
- 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.
- Sentry and Quill meeting pre-canon - how did they decide to travel together? What was it like for both of them, Sentry so lost in a new world, Quill still reeling from the Valley?
- Their thoughts on the spark of divinity, and the choice they made to reject it? Of all the characters, Quill and Sentry were the ones I thought were most likely to take it.
- If you’re inclined towards ship-fic, I very much ship Quill and Lucius! I also really like Quill/Lucius/Aridan - Lucius has two hands and deserves two boyfriends ;) (as a side note, I also love Faeth and her relationship with Lucius, as a platonic, asexual one, so so much - that representation is important to me). I’d rather not see Sentry shipped with anyone.
.
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’s slowly grown 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 ;) Sentry, I love her kindness, her protectiveness, her devotion to her loved ones. Her one-liners never fail to be a punch in the heart in the best way! And with both of them, I love how much they support each other, rely on each other - how Sentry is Quill’s protector, how Quill is Sentry’s squire.
High Rollers (Curse of Strahd campaign) - any
I would be delighted to see any or all of the PCs (including the un-nominated ones), 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:
- 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?
- Shadow we only had for a short time, and I would love to know more of her past - how did she end up in service to Shar? More of her and Rose meeting and becoming friends? Or after her death, how much does she retain of her self?
- 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’ve played 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 Rose’s strength of character and pragmatism; Yesper’s courage and determination to see their destiny through; the Mire’s eerie strangeness; Shadow's calm in the face of horror.
Marjorie Dean series - Leila Harper, Vera Mason
I read the whole series recently and absolutely loved these two - anything centering on them would delight me!
Fandom specific DNW: I really dislike Leila getting randomly paired off with Peter Cairns in the last book - please ignore that!
A few ideas:
- Meeting and becoming friends in their freshman year at Hamilton - did they bond over pranks and jokes? Over having similarly complicated home lives?
- Encounters with the Sans Soucis during that year - or later on! Presumably they weren’t just harassing Marjorie…
- After Leslie’s reformation, Leila especially struggles with that initially… Maybe a look at that growing friendship?
- Holidays together - in New York with Vera’s father? In Ireland with Leila’s family? Visiting Marjorie or some other friends?
- Deciding to come back as post-graduates - did they decide it together? Independently and then surprise each other with the announcement?
- I would love ship-fic if that’s where you’re pulled! I would also love platonic fic, but I’d rather not see them shipped with anyone else.
What I love about this fandom: I love school stories and these are an excellent set - granted they're a bit moralising at times, but I enjoy the adventures and plays and expeditions they get up to. I do also really like the girls' stand for democracy and fairness!
What I love about these characters: I love Leila’s quick wits, her humour, her mercurial moods. I love Vera’s quieter but equally quick and funny manner, how they play off each other. I think it’s interesting how their relatively unhappy family backgrounds make them a great foil to the "bad (especially spoilt/snobbish) girls are motherless and motherless girls are bad" tendency of the books.
Shakespeare & Hathaway - Luella Shakespeare, Frank Hathaway, Sebastian Brudenell (any combination)
I would love to see any combination of Luella, Frank, and Sebastian!
- Case fic would be amazing if you feel up to it! Or a look at what someone was doing during a canon case, while the show focussed on the other(s)?
- Two of them setting up the third on a (disastrous?) blind date? Do they turn out to be a criminal?
- Sebastian lands a role in a play, and Luella and Frank go along to be supportive - shenanigans ensue, presumably!
- “Sebastian investigates in costume” is always one of my favourite parts - what nonsensical outfit are they inflicting on him this time?
- Epistolary fic - Email chain about a case? Trying to give the agency a social media presence (and possibly it backfiring)? Group text, sending something to the group text they didn’t mean to?
What I love about this fandom: I love the disaster trio and how they somehow always make it through! I really enjoy cosy murder mysteries, and these are such a good example of the genre. I love the Shakespeare references even though I’m sure I miss a lot of them, especially to the Histories.
What I love about these characters: I love all their snarkiness and ribbing each other, and even more I love the genuine affection that underlies it all. I love Luella’s passion and determination, Frank’s more world-weary dogged persistence, Sebastian grumbling but always helping out.
Swallows and Amazons - Timothy Stedding, James Turner
It was incredibly hard to choose a character for this fandom, so feel free to bring in any and all others you like as co-stars! A few ideas:
- Timothy seems to get pretty much adopted by the Blackett-Turner family between Pigeon Post and Picts and Martyrs - what was that process like?
- Timothy and Jim’s first meeting and adventures in Latin America? (Jim is totally a secret agent as well as a miner/travel writer, right? Is Timothy, too?) Or mining with Slater Bob?
- Did they ever have that houseboat battle Jim promised they could make Timothy walk the plank in?
- Timothy properly meeting and being introduced to the Great-Aunt?
- I totally ship them, if that’s what you feel like writing! I will be equally happy with gen fic, but please don’t pair them with anyone else.
- That letter Jim never posted to Molly, explaining things - what did it say? And why on earth didn’t Jim think to warn the obviously shy Timothy there was a good possibility there would be a bunch of children around?
- Timothy telling Jim about the events of The Picts and The Martyrs (Jim is probably massively amused from the whole thing since he’s at a safe distance from Aunt Maria…).
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” – the children 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. And I like how the adults, while more on the edges of the stories, are very much people too, with their own strengths and flaws - and how they interact with the kids!
What I love about these characters: I love Timothy’s shyness, and also how in an emergency he suddenly becomes incredibly levelheaded and brave and competent. The way he lets himself be fended off on High Topps rather than have to go through a pack of children, and his despairing acquiescence with Nancy’s plans in Picts and Martyrs, are a delight. Jim must be in good standing for a “best fictional uncle ever” award! Maybe he loses some points for going all reclusive in the first book, but he certainly makes up for it after that. I love how he supports the kids, all the work he does to make sure Nancy’s maddest plans can actually happen.
Thank you for reading, and happy writing!