Dear Yule Writer,

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Hi there! I'm Lilith. Thanks so much for writing for me! We clearly have some taste in common, and I’m always pleased to “meet” new people who enjoy the same books. ;) I’m psyched to see what you come up with, and I dearly hope that you have a blast doing it!

(And hello to any random browsers or window-shoppers. I hope you’re having a good time too! I haven't been around this year - is that whole "open to gifts" thing still worth noting? I am, for the record. <3)

If you’re the kind of person who likes to poke around past requests, you’ll notice that a couple of the ones here are repeats from previous years. Please know that this doesn’t mean I have a preference for those fandoms over the others I’ve just added, or vice versa! I promise, that’s not the case at ALL. The best fic comes from the effort and investment of the writer, so frankly, what I want the most for Yuletide is whichever one of these canons YOU’D be most excited to write about. I am and have always been unapologetically Pollyanna-ish about this exchange. It’s a long, longtime favorite seasonal tradition for me.

There are plentiful thoughts and prompts (and in several cases, links to promo posts) below. I’m just like this (and as a writer, I just like this kind of thing - lots of material to work with, I mean); believe me, I do not demand or expect you to adhere to my ideas! They’re there for you to use as much or little as you want (and because I have a lot of fun rambling about stuff I enjoy).

I hope that you have a marvelous Yuletide - whatever that means to you! Thank you again! <3

General Likes | DNWs | Bounceback | The Girls I’ve Been | Mortal Follies | October Daye | Wayfarers

General Likes

close tone/style matches to canon

humor

non-traditional languages/demonstrations of love/friendship

team/group/found family dynamics and bonding

close and/or complex sibling relationships and dynamics

focus on female characters and their relationships with each other (romantic, platonic, mentors, rivals, nemeses)

focus on canonically trans and/or gender non-conforming characters

V-shaped polyamorous relationships, with amicable metamours or interesting explorations of those dynamics

expanded worldbuilding (I don’t usually request worldbuilding as a “character” because I typically prefer to see it through the lens of canon characters, but please don’t let that mislead you - I am into it!)

canon divergence AUs; fix-its, what-ifs, alternate endings, etc etc

caper fic, adventures and plot in general

pastiche, parody, playing with genre conventions, trope subversions, role reversals, metafiction

playing with power dynamics in romantic relationships (not only in a sexual context)

consequences, negotiation, communication, relationship work

smut! I have some smut-specific likes listed over here.

happy/hopeful endings

DNWs:

setting/time period AUs

"mundane"/"modern" AUs

fated or biologically deterministic romantic or sexual relationships*

unrequested crossovers

homophobia, transphobia, racism, etc as a driving aspect of the plot (some era-typical reference in the background is fine)

non-canon character death

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

grim or excessively dark overall tone/endings

child or animal harm

unrequested non-canonical pairings

infidelity (ethical non-monogamy is welcome)

incest

”on-screen” non-consensual sex

explicit sex scenes involving characters under 16 (or equivalent)

infantilization

Daddy/Mommy kink or terminology

kinks involving serious injury, bodily wastes, pregnancy, inflation, impossible penetration, fantastical anatomy except where canon-appropriate, and so forth

*Omegaverse, soulmates, etc

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The Bounceback Series - L.X. Beckett
Cherub “Rubi” Whiting, Gimlet Barnes
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags

Promo Post

The duality of Rubi and Gimlet’s relationship is such a special delight. On the one hand, they have their gaming roles and rivalry, complete with all kinds of in-character tropey grandstanding and sexual tension. On the other, they’re both adults, fairly young ones, navigating very real life issues and choices - and trying to figure out what they can be to each other in those contexts, with an emphasis on healthy communication and relationship values. I love the idea of a story playing with the intersection of the public and the private, the fictional and the real, the flashy side AND the mundane domestic side, etc. Also, I’m a giant sucker for metafiction and in-universe media, so there’s that!

While I’ve chosen to focus my request on this pair, I am deeply fond of much of the cast (especially Drow, Frankie, Crane and Luce) and would welcome their inclusion - and of course, the book is absolutely packed with worldbuilding and plot threads, so if any piece of that in particular really speaks to you, I’d be thrilled if you run with that. AI, aliens, and conspiracies, oh my; all of that is my jam. I am a big lover of plotty fic, and shippy fic where the relationship development goes hand-in-hand with plot. Most of my prompts will be more focused on the relationship part, but don’t let that deter you!

Some thoughts/prompts:

the story of how they first met, or how their rivalry/attraction developed!

a particular game they played (pre-canon, probably) which lead to a steamy encounter! Have fun with the in-game worldbuilding and banter!

post-book story where they sort things out together! How do they cope with the remnants of Gimlet’s dissolving group marriage? How does Rubi handle being a co-parent, or whatever her relationship with Frankie shapes up to be? How do they sort out their public and private personas/dynamic?

Rubi won their bet … what is it like if they go on to play a game where they’re on the same side? How does Gimlet handle being a hero (possibly an antihero or reformed villain)? Conversely, what if Rubi tried out playing a villain, just for fun? (I suspect she would be bad at it, possibly hilariously so. What do you think?)

potentially fun framing for a post-book story: the public chatter about them getting together! gossip! Fans! (Ooh, I bet there’s fanfic … of them as their various in-game characters, and ‘RPF’ … that might be fun to play with.) Anything you want to do with in-universe media will delight me enormously.

smut would be very welcome (but certainly not required) - the ways in which IRL Gimlet is and isn’t like their villain persona, how that comes out in their flirting, and the very real caring underneath would be particularly fascinating in an explicit context, ahem.

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The Girls I’ve Been - Tess Sharpe
Nora O’Malley, Lee Ann O’Malley, Agent Marjorie North

My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions: I’m fine with an O’Malley sisters story that doesn’t include Marjorie or only references her in a background way, and I’m fine with a Lee Ann/Marjorie story that doesn’t feature “on-screen” Nora (though since she’s the basis for their relationship in many ways, I don’t think you could really avoid at least referencing her)

Promo Post

This book is full of things I love (parallel narratives, evoked chosen family, capers, cons and trickery, a lack of/building/exercising communication skills, complex and often painful character growth). While I do absolutely loved the relationship between the kids (and would welcome the inclusion of Iris and Wes if you feel so moved), I was especially drawn to the self-defined sisterhood between Nora and Lee Ann, and the complicated, painful history that Lee Ann had with the FBI agent she ruthlessly used to help free and protect her sister (unswervingly, in spite of falling in love with her in the process). There was such an obvious iceberg of history underneath what we saw of “Amy” and Marjorie; unresolved feelings, history, betrayal … the book barely scratched the surface. And while Lee and Nora’s bond was a (favorite) feature, I think there’s quite a lot left 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 to me, seriously.

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?

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Mortal Follies - Alexis Hall
Lady Georgianna Landrake (“The Duke of Annadale”), Miss Maelys Mitchelmore
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags

Promo Post

This book went straight to my id, I’m not going to lie. Fantasy and regency romance tropes through a sapphic lens, playing with power dynamics, the aloof/damaged powerful character who needs to open up and the naive-but-gutsy/intelligent ingenue with good friends to back her up … give me that candy, yes please. Right down to the scene where Lady Georgianna starts to let Maelys in emotionally, and of course, symbolically bottoms for the first time.

Sadly, the third act really lost me; to be satisfying, I would have needed the central conflict to be partly informed by/resolved via relationship work and/or Lady Georgianna doing more to own her (interpersonal) shit, rather than something so completely external to their actual relationship. (You know, actually continuing the character/relationship arc?) I have absolutely no quibble with Maelys rescuing Georgianna--that fits nicely--but sticking the Duke in goddess-limbo-prison, completely out of the action, did not work for me in the slightest.

All of this is to say: I would love all kinds of indulgent kink-inflected fic (explicit or otherwise), whether set after the events of the book or interstitially - or if you wanted to tell me about their future life together, or do a bit of fix-it work, that would be fabulous as well.

I absolutely welcome the inclusion of additional fantastical/supernatural elements and other characters from the book, but unless you have a strong preference for keeping it, please feel free to dispense with Puck as a narrator. I enjoyed the approach for the purposes of the book, but I don’t think it’s needed (or would necessarily fit as well) for fic about this pair.

Thoughts/prompts:

Smut, set during the second act of the story when Maelys is at Georgianna’s house (before she successfully spends the night in her bed and forces some Feelings talk).

Smut, set AFTER that breakthrough night, as they explore one another a bit more openly (and possibly with power dynamics shifting around more).

If you’re feeling all ambitious - a new (obviously not full-length) third act which actually follows an arc of both character and relationship development.. With much more Georgianna, please.

Post-canon curtainfic, preferably with some flirtation with power play/touches of kink dynamics. (I’m all for non-explicit expressions of these things! Although I also appreciate it when characters have some boundaries and can separate roles from other important aspects of their partnership. I don’t see this pair doing some kind of Regency quasi-24/7 thing.)

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October Daye Series - Seanan McGuire
Cassandra Brown, Walther Davies, Arden Windermere, Rayseline Torquill

My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain: I’m fine with a story about Cassandra, Walther and Arden that does not include Rayseline, and I’m fine with a story about Rayseline that doesn’t include some or all of the other three!

My requests are significantly informed by the events of Be the Serpent and Sleep No More, so, spoiler warning. (Also: I will certainly have read The Innocent Sleep by the time stories go live, if you wind up wanting to reference it.)

It’s kind of surprising that I’ve never requested this fandom before! I’m a longtime reader at this point, and very attached to much of the ensemble cast/worldbuilding. I find the quality of the writing somewhat uneven across the series, but last year, Be the Serpent absolutely knocked my socks off, and after my pre-Sleep No More reread (and SNM itself, which I found to be substantially less impactful in execution, but still), I really want to play more in Toby et al’s sandbox, as it were.

There are lots of characters and groupings that I would love to read about, so here’s how I’ve necessarily narrowed it down for this year’s Yuletide. On the one hand, you have three of the most prominent members of the court at Muir Woods: Arden, the semi-reluctant queen with an unusual history of living among humans (and a foretold abdication in some unknown future), Walther, the creative, prickly runaway-royal-turned-innovative alchemist with one foot in human academia and research (an atmosphere I have ties to myself, ahem), and Cassandra, the queen’s apparently fairly unremarkable chatelaine who turns out to be a Firstborn and manages to hold things together impressively well when her younger siblings and her knowe/monarch are murderously besieged by her own mother (kind of). There’s so much more to explore with each of them, and their relationships with one another!

And then there’s Rayseline, deeply damaged and trying to heal and advocate for herself, as well as to reckon with and atone for her misdeeds - none of which was helped by the whole world (or at least her corner of it) being seized and rewritten by Titania right when things were going in the right damn direction. I’d love to get to actually read about her navigating life with Toby’s household, getting to know kids her own age (something she hasn’t really had much of an opportunity to do) and navigating the fact that many of them have reason to distrust or dislike her. I have ideas for a few specific character combinations I’m interested in seeing in this context, but am also open to others!

I do generally feel more inclined towards predominantly light/shenanigans-and-hijinks-centric fic when it comes to this fandom (there was enough sheer angst in the last book to last me awhile, tbh), though obviously with some sense of real conflict and pain in the mix for Cass and Raysel, in particular.

Other cast members emphatically welcome, naturally.

So here are my thoughts/prompts:

Muir Woods court shenanigans: Arden messes up (in re: magic, or protocol, or who knows what else) … hijinks ensue!

Muir Woods court shenanigans: Walther messes up (something alchemical) … hijinks ensue!

Muir Woods court shenanigans: Cassandra’s Firstborn abilities do something surprising, hijinks and/or a little bit of angst ensue.

Something with Walther, Cassandra and Arden set at the university/in the mortal world. Hijinks most likely ensue, probably as a result of some combination of Faerie and mortal elements.

In general: Karen can come too. (The Brown brothers are also welcome.) I’m really fond of her, and a bit of Brown sisters/siblings bonding/supporting each other/learning about their abilities together would not go amiss as a story element if you felt so moved.

Possibly in combination with something above, I’d be interested in exploring some kind of semi-clandestine polyamorous arrangement with Arden/Cassandra and Cassandra/Walther (v-shaped, preferably; I’m not terribly interested in Arden/Walther, and I have a weakness for metamours being a thing), being navigated in a generally fairly functional and healthy way if also with amusing near-exposure or other shenanigans (because really, a queen isn’t supposed to date her chatelaine).

Rayseline adjusting to daily life in the Daye household. What kinds of things cause culture shock? How does she surprise others (and herself), positively as well as negatively? Who does she tentatively connect with? What unexpected moments of joy or grace emerge, and how is some of the ice broken? Etc.

Rayseline getting incorporated into Teen Squad shenanigans of some kind, probably reluctantly (on her side, on their side, on just some of their side) - and finding a way to contribute that leads to some amount of bonding, even though it doesn’t necessarily spare her dignity or Toby/Tybalt/May/etc’s blood pressure.

Rayseline and August would be an interesting combination, especially after August’s experiences in Titania’s alt-Faerie and the ways in which that may have altered her perspective. They’re both odd ones out among their overlapping network of family, friends and allies. What circumstances might throw them together, and what might they learn from one another?

Rayseline & Chelsea - Chelsea isn’t the odd one out, these days, but she certainly has plenty of experience at it. I kind of enjoy the idea of Chelsea being a character who could help to draw Rayseline out of herself and help her to actually have some measure of a belated, “normal” adolescence (for whatever value of normal is really possible). Chelsea could be the one who insists on including Rayseline over her objections (and Quentin’s, and Dean’s, and Raj’s), or the two of them could have an adventure/get into a mess on their own. I would not object to a bit of shipping here, either.

Rayseline & Gillian - oof, right? Both of them have been through a lot on their own merits, although in Gillian’s case, much of her trauma was caused by or because of Rayseline. Plus, early on in their lives, they were practically cousins, with a mother/aunt who adored them. Now they’re both in Toby’s life again to varying degrees. How do they cope with each other? IS there a way they can learn from their shared history (though they were unaware of one another at the time)? (Or were they? I kind of like the idea of a playdate between little Gillian and a glamored little Rayseline, though I’m pretty sure it’s not canonical).

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

My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions: I’m looking for something Sidra-centric; I’m interested in her relationships with all three of the other characters, and because I’m invested in her place in community I’d certainly enjoy it if all three were mentioned, but I’m fine if one or two of them isn’t a major feature.

I love all four Wayfarers novels deeply; 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! 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, as noted via the new tag. I love them all and I certainly wouldn’t object if they all appeared. I will admit that Sidra is my favorite character, so I’m particular, any combination with her is particularly welcome. (I’d also be thrilled if other characters from the series were featured - as much or as little as you want.) Pepper and Owl’s relationship is also a favorite, and something I’d love to see developed more post-canon.

In shippy terms, I definitely ship Sidra with any/all three of the others to varying degrees. However: I would never want to see Pepper and Blue broken up (but I think Blue and Sidra would make interesting metamours).

Smut is welcome as well; I am definitely 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.

How does reconnecting work for Pepper and Owl, after that initial joyful reunion? How is it for Owl, getting to know this grown-up version of her Jane? How does having her maternal figure back in her life change things for Pepper? Show me the road from Owl waking up in the shuttle to her establishment at Home!

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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