Dear Yule Writer,
Oct. 14th, 2025 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reflectedeveHi there!! Thanks so much for writing for me! I hope you have as much fun with that as I know I will, reading it.
I keep telling myself I’ll write a shorter letter, but I get so much enjoyment out of imagining possibilities and squeeing over the books (and webcomic, this year!) that I love. That means I’m going to have some prompts and some possibly disjointed thoughts about why I love these fandoms. None of it is there to be prescriptive! Feel free to go your own way!
My general feeling going into this Yuletide is that life is pretty tough right now and things are rather dark in the real world, and well, I could use some joy. While every canon is different and the tone that fits each one varies, my tastes are running towards silly shenanigans, adventures, and comfort ... if sometimes flavored a bit by darkness, spookiness (how I love spooky things), or hurt. I’m not looking for schmaltz, but I’m looking for going relatively light on the hurt.
(Er, also. I want to acknowledge something: for all my reliable enthusiasm about this event and the process going in, over the last few years, I’ve struggled pretty hard with reading and commenting on my gifts in anything like a reasonable time frame. It seems to fit in with some other mental health struggles, but that’s not an excuse, and I feel genuinely terrible about it. So, mainly for my own accountability/breaking this cycle: feedback will be prompt this year. Probably on the 25th, and definitely before the 1st; that's a promise.)
A note on DNWs (and Likes): I think these lists are helpful, and I very much appreciate you taking them into account! That said, I think they’re there as general guidelines, to be given and taken in good faith. There’s always going to be some possible interpretation of something (my Likes or DNWs, something in canon, something you’ve written) that one of us won’t have thought of that could maybe be borderline, and I don’t want you to stress it! (My AO3 sign-up includes some fandom-specific annotations to the DNWs, in case those are helpful.)
I hope that you have a marvelous Yuletide - whatever that means to you! Thank you again! <3
Jump to: Crow Time | Curse Bearer | Haunt Sweet Home | The Incandescent | Nettle & Bone | October Daye
General Likes
close tone/style matches to canon pretty much above all else <3
humor, especially dry or absurd humor, shenanigans, or slapstick
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, gender non-conforming, etc characters
the queerer everything is, the better, in general!
V-shaped polyamorous relationships, with amicable metamours or interesting explorations of those dynamics
expanded worldbuilding
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
consequences, negotiation, communication, relationship work
happy/hopeful endings
DNWs:
setting/time period AUs
"mundane"/"modern" AUs
soulmates, Omegaverse, any “fated” relationship dynamics
unrequested crossovers
homophobia, racism, etc as a driving aspect of the plot (some canon-era-typical reference in the background is okay, where applicable)
reference to contemporary U.S. politics (I need a break from this shitshow.)
non-canon major character death
excessive (non-canon-typical) violence
grim or excessively dark overall tone/endings
child or animal harm
non-canonical pairings that I haven’t requested
incest, explicit or implied; this includes adoptive relatives
explicit sex/ratings above M (just not in the mood at present)
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Crow Time (Webcomic)
Cornelia, Crowthulu, Worldbuilding
My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags
I wrote a promo post.
Another promo post, for the Jellybean Juice storyline,
I love this webcomic so much, for everything it is: the one-shots, the longer storylines, the doodles, the expansive and vaguely connected-up worldbuilding and the playful, sometimes spooky, sometimes snarky, often heartfelt tone of the whole thing. I like when there’s the occasional beautiful, melancholy episode, but I like it even better when something theoretically serious is undercut by humor. It’s my perfect comfort food. (Also, as I’m an avid birder, all the bird stuff generally fills me with joy.)
I’ll pretty much love anything you want to write for this one; I’ve requested a couple of characters I have particular affection for, but I figure that in this case, “Worldbuilding” covers just about anything else you want.
Since these stories seem to loosely happen in the same world, I would be delighted to see some of the different character groups cross over! Some of the ones I especially love include the Jellybean Juice crew (a long one: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, a cute doodle if you scroll a little, and a character who’s-who), the Companions (here, here, here, here, here, and here), the Lantern and its “boss” (here, here, here, and here), and the (former) statue crow and his (revived) boyfriend (here, here and here).
More optional prompts:
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Curse Bearer Series - Veronica Roth
Ala, Dymitr, Niko Kosta, Baba Jaga
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form - I’d love a story with all four characters, with just our main trio (Ala, Dymitr, and Niko), or focused primarily on Baba Jaga herself (maybe with background mentions of the others, but not required).
I love these books for a lot of reasons. Ala being tiny and determined and tough-as-nails, even when she was dying of a literal nightmare curse. Dymitr being soft and earnest and also deeply traumatized and angsty (quite a dramatic contrast at times). Niko’s wry cynicism trying to cover up a core of kindness and dedication. The way all three of them care about each other and the ways in which it’s not easy and quite probably never will be. All of that good character stuff. I love Ala and Dymitr learning to be siblings and Dymitr and Niko’s awkward, careful romance. (To be clear: I definitely ship Niko/Dymitr and definitely have no interest in Ala being romantic with either/both of them. But Ala might be my favorite.)
But also.
My mom’s side of the family are ALL Chicago Polish, and I just find the whole Polish/Slavic-centric Chicagoland folkloric underground we get a taste of in When Among Crows to be incredibly neat, and mildly nostalgic around the very edges. This isn’t to say that I have a lot of direct experience of the immigrant subculture there … I’m fourth gen, grew up in New England, and my grandparents were ALL about the assimilation, so my mom basically grew up with a similar level of connection to her roots to what Ala has … in our case, food and the odd holiday tradition. But nevertheless, that connection is something special to me.
So I mean, you don’t have to delve into the cultural stuff any deeper than you’d like, but any amount that you feel like working in will certainly delight me. Also, this is the first time I’ve ever been actively interested in potentially receiving explicitly Christmas-themed fic for Yuletide.
Mostly, what I find myself craving (this is a theme for a lot of this year’s requests) is getting to see the characters in more peaceful (or at least, less physically violent) circumstances than they tend to get into in the books. Navigating complicated and potentially tense interpersonal circumstances, social networks, etc would be great, but maybe not with quite so much stabbing or utter betrayal. This series is made for (and of) hurt/comfort.
Optional prompts:
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Haunt Sweet Home - Sarah Pinsker
Mara Billings, Johanna Bowen
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags
I wrote a promo post.
I love an offbeat little ghost story, and I love behind-the-scenes metafictional nonsense. A story featuring both fake and real hauntings, set in my home region of western Massachusetts, was guaranteed to hook me. And the strange mix of existential issues and making art is pretty fascinating. I don’t know quite what’s going on with the link between Mara and Johanna, but I’d be interested in seeing it explored.
I’d also just love more episodes of “Haunt Sweet Home,” preferably set after the Johanna reveal, where she and Mara can properly team up and have fun with things. I am really here for shenanigans and slapstick! And I’m so here for local color, if you want to delve into the New England flavor of the homes and hauntings. Play with a real ghost story? Make one up? Whatever you like!
A note: I am entirely on the fence about anything shippy between Mara and Johanna. Go with what feels right to you! I’ll bet you can sell me on it.
Optional prompts:
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The Incandescent - Emily Tesh
Dr. Sapphire “Saffy” Walden, Laura Kenning, Nikki Conway, Worldbuilding
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form - I’m up for a Saffy-centric story, Saffy/Laura, Nikki with either Laura or Saffy (or both), or a story focused on worldbuilding with one or more of my requested characters featuring/being mentioned but not necessarily starring.
I wrote a promo post.
This book makes me so happy! I love academic shenanigans, and it was honestly lovely to have a magic school story that focuses on the adults. Especially delightfully awkward sapphic adults. I love Saffy, her genuinely good intentions and care for her pupils, her hubris, and her difficulty with having a personal life. And I love Laura, her no-nonsense attitude, her deeply-held values (which led her to her position with the school instead of something more impressive, career-wise), and the way her genuine hotness and badassery coexist with her being a bit of an interpersonal disaster at times, too. I love them together!
The worldbuilding is nifty, with lots of history to potentially play with, and there’s a lot left to explore about the demons. The Phoenix was fascinating (though the X-Men fan in me is super amused by the choice of name, tbh). And honestly, for all that I value the adult-centric perspective of the book, I love the group of students we get to know and the way they work together under the demon’s nose to try and fix their possessed school. I’d have requested all of them if I had more slots. Please feel free to bring them in if you want!
(While I'm really not looking for ship-centric fic among the teens, for the record: I'm fine with Nikki/Will, would definitely be here for Nikki/Aneeta (or Nikki with both Will AND Aneeta) or Will/Mathias, and like/prefer Nikki and Mathias being adoptive siblings.)
In this case, the things I’m most interested in for Yuletide fit into a set of short prompts that could be expanded in various ways:
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Nettle & Bone - T. Kingfisher
Agnes, The Dust Wife
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form - in most cases I’d prefer both of them, but if you’d like to write a pre-canon story about Agnes that doesn’t include the Dust Wife, I’m here for that!
When I reread this book a few months ago, I immediately thought, oh, I need SO MUCH MORE Agnes. I just adore her, especially the duality of her slightly dotty, harmless, sweet auntie persona and the scary dark half-fae thing she has going on under the surface and how conflicted she is about them! I want to know more about how she wound up the way she did (embracing the former and trying like hell to suppress the latter), and how she maybe works to reconcile them a bit or embrace a little more of her “real” power, post-canon--or not. Maybe she reaffirms her dedication to the values she’s been living by for years! What do you think?
I also love the Dust Wife with her grumpy straightforwardness and her demonic chicken, and maybe especially the way she delights in trying to get Agnes to admit to/embrace parts of her nature that she’s been suppressing. (I honestly have no preference re: shippy or gen, here. I think I'd enjoy both equally--or rather, I'd especially enjoy whichever you'd be more enthusiastic about as a writer!)
If you wanted to include references to or cameos from other major characters from the book, please feel free (I’m especially curious about how Marra and Kania’s relationship might develop post-canon, how Kania does as ruling Queen, etc, but the whole cast is beloved).
Quick prompts:
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October Daye series - Seanan McGuire
Arden Windermere, Cassandra Brown, Walther Davies
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags
This is one of those long-running series that has become a well-loved universe that I curl up in when I need to get away from my own. I love the huge ensemble of characters, the complex web of interpersonal entanglements, all the lore and history (and more recently, alternate history) that goes into it all. There are so many things and people I’d enjoy reading about, but I’ve been delighted by the idea of more about these three for awhile and I’m sticking with them!
As with many of McGuire’s secondary characters, we know a lot about these three, but there’s so much more to explore - and maybe especially their lives when they’re not getting swept up in one of Toby’s messy adventures! Arden, the semi-reluctant queen with an unusual history of living among humans, a relatively fresh alternate history with new perspectives and new emotional ties that she seems to be maintaining (per that one reference to the Golden Shore in the most recent book). Oh, and a foretold abdication in some unknown future. Then there’s Walther, the creative, prickly runaway-royal-turned-innovative alchemist with one foot in human academia (a pet theme of mine, ngl) and research, … 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).
Arden and Walther both shine, in my opinion, when dealing with absurd situations, and Cassandra has an interesting relationship with each of them. Lots of potential for a fun story, plenty of silliness, romance, and a touch of dark and difficult past for each. I’d love to see someone play with all that.
Other cast members are welcome, naturally!
Optional prompts:
[Back To Top]
I keep telling myself I’ll write a shorter letter, but I get so much enjoyment out of imagining possibilities and squeeing over the books (and webcomic, this year!) that I love. That means I’m going to have some prompts and some possibly disjointed thoughts about why I love these fandoms. None of it is there to be prescriptive! Feel free to go your own way!
My general feeling going into this Yuletide is that life is pretty tough right now and things are rather dark in the real world, and well, I could use some joy. While every canon is different and the tone that fits each one varies, my tastes are running towards silly shenanigans, adventures, and comfort ... if sometimes flavored a bit by darkness, spookiness (how I love spooky things), or hurt. I’m not looking for schmaltz, but I’m looking for going relatively light on the hurt.
(Er, also. I want to acknowledge something: for all my reliable enthusiasm about this event and the process going in, over the last few years, I’ve struggled pretty hard with reading and commenting on my gifts in anything like a reasonable time frame. It seems to fit in with some other mental health struggles, but that’s not an excuse, and I feel genuinely terrible about it. So, mainly for my own accountability/breaking this cycle: feedback will be prompt this year. Probably on the 25th, and definitely before the 1st; that's a promise.)
A note on DNWs (and Likes): I think these lists are helpful, and I very much appreciate you taking them into account! That said, I think they’re there as general guidelines, to be given and taken in good faith. There’s always going to be some possible interpretation of something (my Likes or DNWs, something in canon, something you’ve written) that one of us won’t have thought of that could maybe be borderline, and I don’t want you to stress it! (My AO3 sign-up includes some fandom-specific annotations to the DNWs, in case those are helpful.)
I hope that you have a marvelous Yuletide - whatever that means to you! Thank you again! <3
General Likes
DNWs:
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Crow Time (Webcomic)
Cornelia, Crowthulu, Worldbuilding
My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags
I wrote a promo post.
Another promo post, for the Jellybean Juice storyline,
I love this webcomic so much, for everything it is: the one-shots, the longer storylines, the doodles, the expansive and vaguely connected-up worldbuilding and the playful, sometimes spooky, sometimes snarky, often heartfelt tone of the whole thing. I like when there’s the occasional beautiful, melancholy episode, but I like it even better when something theoretically serious is undercut by humor. It’s my perfect comfort food. (Also, as I’m an avid birder, all the bird stuff generally fills me with joy.)
I’ll pretty much love anything you want to write for this one; I’ve requested a couple of characters I have particular affection for, but I figure that in this case, “Worldbuilding” covers just about anything else you want.
Since these stories seem to loosely happen in the same world, I would be delighted to see some of the different character groups cross over! Some of the ones I especially love include the Jellybean Juice crew (a long one: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, a cute doodle if you scroll a little, and a character who’s-who), the Companions (here, here, here, here, here, and here), the Lantern and its “boss” (here, here, here, and here), and the (former) statue crow and his (revived) boyfriend (here, here and here).
More optional prompts:
Cornelia bebe-sits while Sarah and Abby have a sisters’ night out Just … more shenanigans with Sarah, Abby, the bebes and Cornelia. (everyone else can come too.) I love the sisters’ dynamic with one another, and I love Cornelia, and I love the other bebes refusing to let JJ sacrifice itself, and and and. extrapolate on Cornelia’s backstory (I ship her with the witch, but it's open to interpretation and you don't have to) extrapolate on Crowthulu’s backstory Crowthulu/Lovie (Crowthulu’s wife; also here) - courtship stories? Awkward crow/monster dates? the Grim Reaper attempting to cope with the mischievous antics of the spirits of a cat’s nine lives, which he has “collected” further adventures of the Grim Reaper, furry animal spirits, and various long-suffering death gods and psychopomps gently struggling to get the job done more about that one witch who doesn’t want to date the demon she summoned, and her crow familiar. (no need to focus on the demon or dating, though you could! witches, familiars and shenanigans, basically?) anything involving the spooky, eldritch pigeons (examples here, here) just … shenanigans. This early strip is one of my favorites, and an example of the kind of absurdity mixed with wry self-awareness that I particularly cherish. mix and match any of the above! seriously … literally anything that fits into the vibes of this strip is going to delight me. A single structured story, vignettes, third-wall-breaking, silliness, bittersweetness … there’s a lot of range.
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Curse Bearer Series - Veronica Roth
Ala, Dymitr, Niko Kosta, Baba Jaga
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form - I’d love a story with all four characters, with just our main trio (Ala, Dymitr, and Niko), or focused primarily on Baba Jaga herself (maybe with background mentions of the others, but not required).
I love these books for a lot of reasons. Ala being tiny and determined and tough-as-nails, even when she was dying of a literal nightmare curse. Dymitr being soft and earnest and also deeply traumatized and angsty (quite a dramatic contrast at times). Niko’s wry cynicism trying to cover up a core of kindness and dedication. The way all three of them care about each other and the ways in which it’s not easy and quite probably never will be. All of that good character stuff. I love Ala and Dymitr learning to be siblings and Dymitr and Niko’s awkward, careful romance. (To be clear: I definitely ship Niko/Dymitr and definitely have no interest in Ala being romantic with either/both of them. But Ala might be my favorite.)
But also.
My mom’s side of the family are ALL Chicago Polish, and I just find the whole Polish/Slavic-centric Chicagoland folkloric underground we get a taste of in When Among Crows to be incredibly neat, and mildly nostalgic around the very edges. This isn’t to say that I have a lot of direct experience of the immigrant subculture there … I’m fourth gen, grew up in New England, and my grandparents were ALL about the assimilation, so my mom basically grew up with a similar level of connection to her roots to what Ala has … in our case, food and the odd holiday tradition. But nevertheless, that connection is something special to me.
So I mean, you don’t have to delve into the cultural stuff any deeper than you’d like, but any amount that you feel like working in will certainly delight me. Also, this is the first time I’ve ever been actively interested in potentially receiving explicitly Christmas-themed fic for Yuletide.
Mostly, what I find myself craving (this is a theme for a lot of this year’s requests) is getting to see the characters in more peaceful (or at least, less physically violent) circumstances than they tend to get into in the books. Navigating complicated and potentially tense interpersonal circumstances, social networks, etc would be great, but maybe not with quite so much stabbing or utter betrayal. This series is made for (and of) hurt/comfort.
Optional prompts:
Baba Jaga shows up for her grandson’s quiet holiday at home (with his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s pseudo-sister … whether or not he actually, you know, invited any of them) Ala and Dymitr, continuing to adjust to his transformation, her post-curse life experiences, facing the rest of her family/community, etc … Ala (and maybe Niko) help Dymitr create new holiday traditions or recontextualize old ones; maybe comparing notes between Polish and Polish-American variations along the way Baba Jaga, a day in the life in Chicago with a mix of magic and mundane, old world and new More creatures of legend living among the mortals, in general. Elza can come too, if you’d like! I was excited about Baba Jaga and you can only nominate/request four characters, but I am a sucker for siblings and I really enjoyed that chapter with her and Ala towards the end of To Clutch A Razor. That said, I don’t think things can help but be intense and difficult with her, and I’d prefer not to get too heavy, so make of that what you will?
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Haunt Sweet Home - Sarah Pinsker
Mara Billings, Johanna Bowen
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags
I wrote a promo post.
I love an offbeat little ghost story, and I love behind-the-scenes metafictional nonsense. A story featuring both fake and real hauntings, set in my home region of western Massachusetts, was guaranteed to hook me. And the strange mix of existential issues and making art is pretty fascinating. I don’t know quite what’s going on with the link between Mara and Johanna, but I’d be interested in seeing it explored.
I’d also just love more episodes of “Haunt Sweet Home,” preferably set after the Johanna reveal, where she and Mara can properly team up and have fun with things. I am really here for shenanigans and slapstick! And I’m so here for local color, if you want to delve into the New England flavor of the homes and hauntings. Play with a real ghost story? Make one up? Whatever you like!
A note: I am entirely on the fence about anything shippy between Mara and Johanna. Go with what feels right to you! I’ll bet you can sell me on it.
Optional prompts:
Tell me more about that episode with the exploding chandelier that gets mentioned towards the end? Any episode or series of episodes after Mara & Johanna reach an understanding Mara & Johanna learn more about each other/how their connection works/how it might be changing or changing them, etc (I would prefer this doesn't end up with them merging into a single person, though) Podcast investigates/attempts to do an expose of Haunt Sweet Home … or just online forum theories, conspiracies, supposed “insider” information and other drama … etc. Mix & match any of the above!
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The Incandescent - Emily Tesh
Dr. Sapphire “Saffy” Walden, Laura Kenning, Nikki Conway, Worldbuilding
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form - I’m up for a Saffy-centric story, Saffy/Laura, Nikki with either Laura or Saffy (or both), or a story focused on worldbuilding with one or more of my requested characters featuring/being mentioned but not necessarily starring.
I wrote a promo post.
This book makes me so happy! I love academic shenanigans, and it was honestly lovely to have a magic school story that focuses on the adults. Especially delightfully awkward sapphic adults. I love Saffy, her genuinely good intentions and care for her pupils, her hubris, and her difficulty with having a personal life. And I love Laura, her no-nonsense attitude, her deeply-held values (which led her to her position with the school instead of something more impressive, career-wise), and the way her genuine hotness and badassery coexist with her being a bit of an interpersonal disaster at times, too. I love them together!
The worldbuilding is nifty, with lots of history to potentially play with, and there’s a lot left to explore about the demons. The Phoenix was fascinating (though the X-Men fan in me is super amused by the choice of name, tbh). And honestly, for all that I value the adult-centric perspective of the book, I love the group of students we get to know and the way they work together under the demon’s nose to try and fix their possessed school. I’d have requested all of them if I had more slots. Please feel free to bring them in if you want!
(While I'm really not looking for ship-centric fic among the teens, for the record: I'm fine with Nikki/Will, would definitely be here for Nikki/Aneeta (or Nikki with both Will AND Aneeta) or Will/Mathias, and like/prefer Nikki and Mathias being adoptive siblings.)
In this case, the things I’m most interested in for Yuletide fit into a set of short prompts that could be expanded in various ways:
A bit of canon we don’t get to see in detail: Nikki & company’s experience of the Phoenix possession, from noticing it to escaping the school, finding Laura and getting her to help … and maybe the aftermath too. Saffy and Laura in the aftermath; putting things back together, building a relationship, coping with change. (Nikki and perhaps the other students coming back to visit or being in touch would be a nice but optional inclusion!) More on the history of the school (maybe intercut with stuff from the present day). Saffy’s student days and/or Saffy working on her dissertation. All the nerdery, pls.
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Nettle & Bone - T. Kingfisher
Agnes, The Dust Wife
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form - in most cases I’d prefer both of them, but if you’d like to write a pre-canon story about Agnes that doesn’t include the Dust Wife, I’m here for that!
When I reread this book a few months ago, I immediately thought, oh, I need SO MUCH MORE Agnes. I just adore her, especially the duality of her slightly dotty, harmless, sweet auntie persona and the scary dark half-fae thing she has going on under the surface and how conflicted she is about them! I want to know more about how she wound up the way she did (embracing the former and trying like hell to suppress the latter), and how she maybe works to reconcile them a bit or embrace a little more of her “real” power, post-canon--or not. Maybe she reaffirms her dedication to the values she’s been living by for years! What do you think?
I also love the Dust Wife with her grumpy straightforwardness and her demonic chicken, and maybe especially the way she delights in trying to get Agnes to admit to/embrace parts of her nature that she’s been suppressing. (I honestly have no preference re: shippy or gen, here. I think I'd enjoy both equally--or rather, I'd especially enjoy whichever you'd be more enthusiastic about as a writer!)
If you wanted to include references to or cameos from other major characters from the book, please feel free (I’m especially curious about how Marra and Kania’s relationship might develop post-canon, how Kania does as ruling Queen, etc, but the whole cast is beloved).
Quick prompts:
Agnes backstory! Tell me about her childhood, about becoming a Fairy Godmother, about how she made the decisions she did about how she was going to live, etc. Did she ever have any kind of contact with her mother? I’m inclined to consider her, when talking to the other characters during the book, a bit of an unreliable narrator, so please feel free to play however you like. Agnes/the Dust Wife - cranky old lady romance? With chickens (one of whom is demonic)? Agnes & the Dust Wife - cranky old lady platonic housemate shenanigans, with chickens (demonic and otherwise), and probably magic and getting asked for help and interfering in one another’s business at every level, etc!
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October Daye series - Seanan McGuire
Arden Windermere, Cassandra Brown, Walther Davies
My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags
This is one of those long-running series that has become a well-loved universe that I curl up in when I need to get away from my own. I love the huge ensemble of characters, the complex web of interpersonal entanglements, all the lore and history (and more recently, alternate history) that goes into it all. There are so many things and people I’d enjoy reading about, but I’ve been delighted by the idea of more about these three for awhile and I’m sticking with them!
As with many of McGuire’s secondary characters, we know a lot about these three, but there’s so much more to explore - and maybe especially their lives when they’re not getting swept up in one of Toby’s messy adventures! Arden, the semi-reluctant queen with an unusual history of living among humans, a relatively fresh alternate history with new perspectives and new emotional ties that she seems to be maintaining (per that one reference to the Golden Shore in the most recent book). Oh, and a foretold abdication in some unknown future. Then there’s Walther, the creative, prickly runaway-royal-turned-innovative alchemist with one foot in human academia (a pet theme of mine, ngl) and research, … 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).
Arden and Walther both shine, in my opinion, when dealing with absurd situations, and Cassandra has an interesting relationship with each of them. Lots of potential for a fun story, plenty of silliness, romance, and a touch of dark and difficult past for each. I’d love to see someone play with all that.
Other cast members are welcome, naturally!
Optional 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). Arden’s ascent to the throne of the Mists wasn’t entirely enthusiastic or even willing, and she continues to vacillate between embracing the role and wanting to cut and run. Now, she has the memories of a completely different life; one where she was both braver, and on a very different path. What’s that like? How does it affect her outlook on life and her throne, and her relationship with her brother? Fleshing out more of the false memories encouraged.
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