Dear Yule Writer,

[reflectedeve]

Well hello! Thank you so much for writing for me this year!

Of note: I am a relatively detailed and prolific prompter! Some people really enjoy working from prompts; some don’t. ODAO, and if you’d rather strike out in a different direction, please know that I’ll be delighted by that, too. Not to go all nonbinary Pollyanna on you, but: for me, Yuletide is primarily all about everyone having as much fun as they possibly can and sharing their love of something with a like-minded fan (a rare experience, for many of these rare fandoms). I am genuinely more invested in your enjoyment than in any of my ideas below. They’re there for fun and in case you want them.

But enough of that. I’ve requested, as is my wont, a bunch of books (two series and two stand-alones--at least, so far), as well as a podcast and a Netflix show. Some I’ve requested before (many times, even), and a couple are brand new to me. I love them all. I’m on the edge of my seat, waiting to find out which one you love too! Happy Yuletide, and I hope you get the experience you want out of it. <3 Let's get to the good stuff!

You can find me at Lilith and reflectedeve if you like! (My twitter is locked and little-used.) And should it come up for some reason, my pronouns are they/them.

I am opted-in to these mini-challenges: Wrapping Paper, Make The Yuletide Gay, ... and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

General Likes | DNWs | The Girls I’ve Been | The Locked Tomb
Wayfarers | The Witch Family | Unwell | Sex Education

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General Likes

close tone/style matches to canon

humor

non-traditional languages/demonstrations of love/friendship

close/complex sibling relationships and dynamics

focus on female characters and their relationships with each other

focus on canonically gender non-conforming characters

expanded worldbuilding

canon divergence AUs

caper fic

pastiche and playing with genre conventions

deliberate trope subversions, role reversals, playing with expectations

metafiction

parallel narratives

consequences, negotiation, communication, actual relationship work*

happy/hopeful endings of some flavor

*as opposed to hand-wavy rom-com Big Gestures Fix Everything if there’s a relationship conflict.


DNWs

AUs (except for canon divergence AUs)

crossovers

story focus on unrequested (non-canon) pairings

non-consensual sex

explicit sex*

incest

child/adult romantic or sexual relationships

infidelity (ethical non-monogamy is welcome)

character-bashing

non-canon character death

excessive (i.e. non-canon-typical) violence

child or animal harm

grim or excessively dark overall tone/endings

Omegaverse, soulmarks/mates, etc

infantilization

toilet humor

*By which I mean, straight-out, E-rated porn, especially PWPs. (This is not a blanket ban on all mentions of sex or sexy encounters between characters, by any means.) This DNW has two exceptions: Wayfarers and Sex Education. Both are somewhat specific, and I’ll explain below. Otherwise … I love smut, but I’m mostly interested in other kinds of stories right now, so I thought I’d take it off the table this time.


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The Girls I’ve Been - Tess Sharp
Lee Ann O’Malley (aka Amelia Deveraux), Agent Marjorie North, Nora O’Malley

Description: A stand-alone(?) YA thriller starring Nora O’Malley, the daughter of a con woman who spent her childhood as an accessory/talented apprentice grifter before escaping, with her much older sister Lee Ann’s assistance, at the age of twelve. Five years later, she has a new name and a new life in a small California town, with her sister, best friend/chosen family, and adorable/badass new girlfriend; all of which are threatened when the teens get caught up in a bank robbery gone wrong! The narrative alternates between their efforts to escape the situation, Nora’s troubled history, and the story of her sister’s efforts to rescue her from her abusive mother and stepfather. (Belated promo post expands on this, just a little.)

This book was one of the surprise delights of the year for me, reading-wise! And while I absolutely loved the relationship between the kids (and would welcome the inclusion of Iris and Wes if you feel so moved), the thing that grabbed me hardest was the sisterly relationship, and the complicated, painful history that Lee Ann had with the FBI agent she ruthlessly used to help free and protect her sister (in spite of falling in love with her). There was clearly so much complexity between “Amy” and Marjorie, unresolved feelings, history, betrayal … the book barely scratched the surface of them. And while Lee and Nora’s bond was a (favorite) feature, I think there’s plenty to explore in the difficult, devoted relationship between sisters who barely knew each other for years, whose lives were based very deliberately around lies, and who managed to build something real together in spite of it all.

SO tantalizing, srsly.

So here are my thoughts/prompts:

The Amelia and Marjorie story, from either perspective (or both), in whole or in part. Amelia’s long con (and how intentional/planned from the beginning it was - seems like something of an open question). Marjorie falling in love with this somewhat prickly, difficult (but charming when she wanted to be) PI (was she already a PI?), only to have things get stranger and stranger as she’s manipulated, mined for information, and finally betrayed/used as a tool for Amelia’s goals. And the pain/recriminations/regrets/love between them in the aftermath (the hotel post-escape, the trial, the sisters’ disappearance). Do they ever see each other again? Is there any kind of closure?

The sisters’ relationship/history from Lee’s perspective. Finding out about Nora; seeing what her mother was doing to her; working to connect with her; working to save her; creating a home and a life together and coping with their shared (and separate) baggage. Any piece or portion you like. Structured around creating some kind of tradition together, perhaps? I’m a fan of parallel narratives (one of the ways the book got me)!

Just … early days in California, from Nora’s perspective. Adjusting to living with someone who (for all her own challenges) genuinely loves her and isn’t trying to manipulate her or force her to manipulate others. How she and Lee coped with Wes’s gradual inclusion. Various “real life” challenges in the hands of girls who aren’t used to “real.”

At the end of the novel, Nora has partially outed herself to her mother (and therefore, her stepfather/a wider criminal community). What if Agent North gets wind of something? What if she finds them? What happens when she comes crashing (back) into Lee’s--Amy’s--Amelia’s life?

Note that it’s fine not to use the three characters evenly! I’m fine with a Lee Ann(Amelia)/Marjorie story that only includes Nora in a second-hand or peripheral way, and I’m fine with a Lee Ann & Nora story sans Marjorie. Whatever you feel like running with!

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The Locked Tomb Series - Tamsyn Muir
Abigail Pent, Magnus Quinn, Jeannemary Chattur, Isaac Tettares

Description: Necromancers in space! Some of them are lesbians! There are intense formalized magic-user/sword-fighter relationships and nine Houses on nine (dead) planets with intensely different cultures, political scheming, war, murder, soup … it’s a good time. Absurd humor and gratuitous meme references abound.

Given that this is definitely the last year this is going to qualify for Yuletide, I thought I’d request the gen family dynamics of my heart! I love me some angsty enemies-to-friends-to-bodysharing-to-lovers and all, but I have a hankering for horrible teens (or children) and their mentors.

The pseudo-parental relationship Abigail & Magnus had with the 4th teens in GtN was an endless source of delight to me (especially each and every time Magnus embarrassed Jeannemary), and I just shamelessly want MORE of that. I’m mostly imagining pre-canon stories, here, though you could find a way to work in something at Canaan House or in the River, perhaps.

A few prompts:

Abigail and Magnus attend some kind of ceremony or event in Isaac and/or Jeannemary's honor (achievement of a military rank/level of swordswomanship? a coming of age event/birthday party? some kind of necromancer graduation?) and just embarrass the hell out of them. With love.

Younger Abigail and Magnus look after Isaac and Jeannemary at some kind of House leadership event where the little 4th tots are in danger of getting underfoot.

Jeannemary has some agonizing adolescent experience, probably a first crush or something. Magnus and Isaac try to be helpful, supportive, and/or give advice, and are both disastrous at it. Abigail is actually helpful. (Or, alternately - Abigail and Isaac try to be helpful, supportive, and/or give advice, and are disastrous, while Magnus is actually helpful. TBH, I could see this going either way!)

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Wayfarers Series - Becky Chambers
Sidra, Tak, Pepper, Owl

Description: Wayfarers is a series of four loosely-connected novels, all wonderful; however, for Yuletide purposes I’m focused on the second book, A Close and Common Orbit. It’s one of my favorite books … of all time, actually. Dual narratives about two characters (a newly-installed AI navigating a humanoid body she was never designed to inhabit, and a genetically-engineered factory slave who escapes and survives and grows up to escape the rest of the way), featuring themes around creating family/a life out of nothing, disability and access, trauma and basically learning to be a person. All within the context of the wider Wayfarers universe, where fucked up things happen and various ruling institutions certainly suck, but a wide variety of species from across the galaxy manage to live together more or less in the spirit of curiosity, cultural exchange, and cooperation. (Happy sigh.)

You don’t need to focus on all four requested characters. I love them all and I certainly wouldn’t object if they all appeared, but for me, everything kind of orbits around Sidra. Any combination of the others along with her is very welcome. (I’d also be thrilled if other characters from the series were featured - as much or as little as you want.) In shippy terms, I definitely ship Sidra with any/all three of the others (I would never want to see Pepper and Blue broken up - but I think Blue and Sidra would make excellent and interesting metamours).

This fandom is exempt from my “explicit sex” DNW. I am very interested in explorations of what sex might be like for Sidra, especially via her sensory analogs and her methodical, curious way of approaching and exploring new experiences.

Some loose ideas/prompts:

just … a “typical” night at Home (with any number of new and weird patrons, interpersonal drama, experimentation with using petbots for whatever, handling a rush, or what have you) would be lovely … I adore the whole idea of the space and would really enjoy seeing it in action.

One night at Home, Captain Gapei Tem Seri is there having a drink during shore leave and observes Sidra and Tak being clueless about each other. Maybe she gives Tak some friendly advice/encouragement on the whole taboo interspecies dating front? Maybe Sidra seeks out HER advice (after an introduction/some background from Pepper and/or Blue)?

Sidra decides to explore the concepts of dating and/or sex, to see whether/how they're for her. Tak, her usual partner in social exploration, takes her on a date - and is surprised (or not surprised) by how much it’s not “just an exercise” for zir? Sidra winds up navigating social conventions AND very real feelings (Tak’s, and maybe hers too)?

Sidra explores the .. range of her sensory analogues, picking up from that one dance scene with the Aandrisks, with either Tak or Pepper as a partner in exploration.

I am so fascinated by Sidra’s petbots. A story exploring the way they operate would be fabulous. What is it like for her to transition to and from the way she exists at Home, as opposed to out in the world? How does she experience her inputs on a typical evening? How do unsuspecting customers interact with the bots, and what is that like? What about her friends? Do they tease her through them in some way? Does she use them to flirt?

what is it LIKE for two unusual AIs with very different life experiences to share memory banks? That seems like a rather intense level of intimacy. What do Sidra and Owl learn from each other, and how does that relationship evolve? Please feel free to get atmospheric.

the others support Sidra in confronting her confusing earliest beginnings … reaching out for some kind of connection/cathartic interaction with Jenks, or maybe stumbling into it when the Wayfarer crew shows up at Home? (Please do not link those two up romantically. Sidra very much isn’t Lovey, and Jenks would have to know that. But Lovey’s death affected them both so profoundly … and Sidra’s earliest memories are learning about this impossible-seeming love affair and tragedy, of that as a POSSIBILITY she wasn’t programmed to consider, and of her unexpected, painful failure to be someone else entirely.)

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The Witch Family - Eleanor Estes
Amy, Clarissa, Hannah (Little Witch Girl), Lurie

Promo post over here!

I loved this book when I was a kid. Friendship, metafiction, playing with notions of right and wrong, brave little girls, found family … I mean, damn. (As an adult I find it a bit preachy and saccharine at times, but for the most part, it holds up beautifully.) And I’ve been really intrigued by the idea of future-fic for a few years now!

As far as fic goes, I’d prefer things to ultimately be upbeat, but please feel free to reduce the schmaltz level a little and be realistic about the characters’ flaws (perhaps especially Amy’s). I’d also be thrilled if you kept to the historical setting (the book came out in 1960, so assuming the girls were 7, as they are in the story, that year …) - although if you decide to write shipfic, please try to keep the homophobia (internalized or otherwise) relatively light/decentralized.

Prompts/thoughts:

How do Amy and Clarissa’s friendship and storytelling evolve as they get older? And how might Lurie and Hannah’s lives and friendship mirror and/or prefigure those changes? (I know that Hannah was supposed to never age, but I’d prefer to ignore that bit of canon.) How does Amy’s perspective on creativity, morality and magic evolve?

What do the girls grow up to do and be? Playing with metafiction would be fabulous, and/or identity (the … similarities between the “real” girls and their magical counterparts).

I’d be delighted with romance/shipfic for either pair, or both. (How might trying to figure out liking girls on the one hand, and dating a mermaid on the other, have interesting parallels that could be explored? Ahem.)

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Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery (podcast)
Joey, Lillian “Lily” Harper, Stella “Spikes” Cabrera

Description: When Lily Harper, a Jane-of-all-trades with lingering issues from her parents’ divorce, moves to the small town of Mt. Absalom to care for her estranged, aging/recently injured mother, she finds a home … and a vast, creepy supernatural conspiracy wherein few of the people she encounters are entirely what they seem. It’s atmospheric and sometimes chilling, often funny and very moving. (Highly recommended if you enjoy atmospheric/gothic/character-driven horror!)

I fell in love with Unwell a few months back and binged the entire thing in record time. There are so many characters, themes and threads that I’d love fic for, but (unsurprisingly) I’ve decided to focus on female friendships for my request. That is very much how I roll, after all. Also, I find the parallel nature of Joey’s friendships with various denizens of the town over the years absolutely tantalizing. I’m a sucker for narrative parallels. And creepy underpinnings to real, caring relationships. Yes.

I don’t really have a set of prompts for this fandom, but what I’ve been daydreaming about is a story fully or partially from Joey’s perspective, with scenes from her friendships with both Lily and Spikes, in parallel. Probably with varying degrees of self-awareness and … solidity, for want of a better word? Flashes of memory from previous friendships sometimes, when they’d encounter something similar? The different cultural/historical settings and contexts of each, the way things do and don’t change for Joey as she befriends kids from new generations. That sort of thing, and wherever the two parallel friendships takes you! I’d love something that has a core of affection/friendship with creepiness and perhaps a bit of sadness/regret mixed in.

No need to try and answer all the questions surrounding her nature and past, but feel free to play, and to expand worldbuilding as you like! I’ll be fascinated to see where you take it.

I’m not really looking for shipping, here, but I am absolutely open to glimpses of developing queerness and undercurrents in one or both friendships. Tentative semi-awareness of attraction. Shy awkward baby flirting. That sort of thing!

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Sex Education (tv)
Lily Iglehart

Description: A drama-comedy show about a pile of teens at a British school in a medium-sized town, one of whom has a sex therapist for a mother (played by Gillian Andersen). Hijinks, interpersonal drama, teen angst, high-quality peer-to-peer sex advice and counseling in an abandoned, crumbling bathroom outbuilding, the raunchiest glam rock musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet you’re ever likely to encounter, friendship, love, class issues … you name it, basically; it ensues.

Spoilers through the end of Season 3 below.

So I heard about this show, originally, after a close friend texted me to say that I had to watch it because of the nerdy girl who liked aliens and tentacles. Plus glam rock aesthetics, and comics. (You know how occasionally a character comes along who just seems made for you, specifically?) I love the rest of the cast a whole damn lot, but Lily is just … important to me. Season 3 was rough on her, but we also got to know a bit more (basically, that she has always been like that) … and of course there was that amazing animated opener to episode 7, featuring her character Glenoxi (and fabulous sci-fi aesthetics, and lesbian tentacle sex - uh, also kind of made for me). More, please.

I’m really interested in exploring more of Lily’s creative work and world - past, present, and/or future. I love metafiction and parallel narratives, which could play in here. I also love her and Ola and their awkward adorableness, though it’s clear that there’s room for some improved communication there! And I’m curious about the origins of her fascination with aliens (and alien sex), though I’d really like to avoid anything … pathologizing, or anything suggesting a history of abuse, please.

This fandom is exempt from my “explicit sex” DNW, specifically in the context of Lily's stories/in-universe writing, for reasons that are probably obvious. ;) I'd still rather no PWP as such, but there's no avoiding explicit themes with this material, and I'd never want to make you try. (Also, tentacles.)

Prompts:

The story of the story - how Lily started writing about Glenoxi, and how her writing (and drawing) caused her in trouble, and carried her through some of the trials and tribulations of childhood/adolescence.

When does Lily invent/start writing about Starlanza? How does Ola react?

Set early in their relationship - Lily and Ola (newly introduced to alien roleplay and giving it her open-minded best) try out sexting and/or RPing/co-writing (probably somewhat … xeno-tastic) smut, giddy and awkward - maybe especially awkward given some of the places they do it from

Sometime in the near-ish future, Lily’s work finds a wider audience online. What does that look like? How does she feel about it? How does it bleed into her “real” life? How do her various friends and former classmates react (if/when they find out)?

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