I misunderstood the point of this ride

Well hello! I'm so sorry this letter is a little late--and thanks so much for writing for me! I love the books I requested, and I’m so excited that you’re into one or more of them too! Nice taste. ;)

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.

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! It would be lovely if you took a look to have a sense of my feelings about the characters/books, but ultimately the best stories are the ones where you follow your own vision, and in any case, I’d rather you enjoyed yourself writing something you want to write. Seriously, as far as I’m concerned, that’s what it’s all about. A story you’re invested in writing will delight me the most, by a mile.

Thank you again, and I really hope you have a blast!

(Oh, and treats are always welcome. <3)

( fandom-specific thoughts, prompts, etc )

Hello, delightful person! Thank you for doodling for me! This exchange is just the best, and so are you!

The spirit of this exchange matters to me a lot. I hope participating will be super fun and low-pressure for you, regardless of your "skills" (SO relative!), experience, media of choice, or level out output you happen to be feeling like. I am honored that you're making me a thing, and I cannot wait to see it!

I enjoy prompts and the like, so I'm going to provide some in case you do too. That said, this will probably be a pretty inconsistent letter on that score. I'm a little all over the place right now, so in some cases you might see some detailed ideas, probably cobbled together from past exchanges; in others, some broader strokes. Preference should in no way be read into any of that, please! I'm excited about all my requests, just having a very busy time and feeling extra ADHD lately.)

I am absolutely open to treats - and always giddily grateful if you feel inspired in that direction!

( Onward! )

Hi! Thanks so much for creating for me.

I was excited to learn about this new exchange, because while I enjoy all kinds of kink, it’s often hard to find stories that scratch my itch for the kinds of kink practices, protocols and history that you find in a lot of IRL BDSM communities. Whether or not those kinds of communities are explicitly included in the story—it doesn’t always fit with the canon—I enjoy things like negotiation (talking about hot things can itself be so hot - it doesn’t have to be rote!), characters checking in with each other, taking care of each other when things don’t quite work as planned or there is emotional aftermath … very very much. I’m very into things like honorifics, defined scenes (in the kink sense) when people take on roles/fall into headspace within those delineations, and so forth.

I also have a huge thing for cathartic kink, for characters (especially strong/stoic/leader characters) getting a chance to let go, give up control, process emotions and trauma, and feel protected/under the control and care of someone else, through the medium of bondage, pain or submission. There’s a lot of that in here.

And, I enjoy non-sexual and non-sex-centric kink quite a lot! I also love hot, filthy porn! Basically, with most of these requests, I’d be equally happy with a focus on the one as the inclusion of the other.

I won’t ramble further, I think, at least in general terms … I’ve offered a mishmash of prompts and ideas below, to varying degrees of specificity, for you to play with if you would like (but as always, that’s up to you). I have some general thematic and smut likes over here in a separate post, but I’ve put together some DNWs specific to this exchange. Thanks again, so much. I hope you have fun with this!

( DNWs, requests and prompts! )

Hi there, fellow fairy/folk tale enthusiast! I’m delighted that we share an interest in one of these stories, and I’m very much looking forward to your take on any of them!

I come to this exchange with a particular interest in retellings/reinterpretations of, and expansions on, the original tales. And while I tend to prefer fic that works hard to match the tone/style of canon in most other fandom contexts, that absolutely does not apply here; if anything, I think I prefer works that tell (versions of) the stories in their own voice.

(In fact, many of my general likes/DNWs for other exchanges really don’t apply to this one. If you happen upon my pinned post with those, please disregard.)

I have a particular love for queer and feminist retellings, and also stories that lean into the horror elements that are so tightly woven into many traditional fairy tales and more contemporary urban legends alike. (Especially when they do so subtly - I’m much more fond of creeping dread and terrifying events that are never thoroughly explained, than jump scares and on-page mayhem, etc.) Playing up the inhumanity/otherworldliness of beings such as mermaids and fairies is also a favorite tactic. Which isn’t to say I don’t also enjoy a wholesome lady-knight-rescues-trans-princess happily-ever-after sort of scenario. To be clear. ;)

Down below, I’m going to talk a bit about what interests me about each of the tales I’ve chosen, and a few ideas for where you might take things (which you are free to use or disregard as your inspiration takes you). I’m interested in your version of the story, and I very much hope you enjoy telling it. Thank you so much. <3

Likes & DNWs | Belle-Belle | Bluebeard | Fitcher’s Bird | The Little Mermaid | The Snow Queen | The Velvet Ribbon

( Herein lies a ramble, or several. )

Hi there! Thank you for creating for me; I hope you have a great time! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with. <3

I'm trying something new with this exchange, I have a separate General Likes and DNWs post, in case you find that helpful. Under the cut, I'll share some more specific prompts for my requested pairings, which you're welcome to use, adapt or ignore in favor of other ideas - whatever works best for you.

( Prompts under here. )

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

( All of the above! )

Hello there! Thank you so much for creating for me! Whether you're planning to write fic or draw a comic, this exchange calls for a significant amount of work, and I appreciate it so much in advance.

I hope you'll have fun with this, and please remember that my prompts are by no means intended to be demanding; they are there for your use IF you find them useful. If you have a completely different idea that fits in with my general likes and excludes my DNWs, I will be super excited to read it! If one of my prompts inspires you more directly, same! I'm on the edge of my seat. I’m just so delighted that you’re creating for me.

General Likes | Art Likes | Smut Likes | DNWs
Sailor Moon | The Locked Tomb | The Snow Queen
Labyrinth | Jeeves and Wooster x Miss Fisher

( All the details are in here! )

Hello there! I’m so excited this exchange exists. Thank you in advance for creating for me!

I’m the kind of person who will try to give you lots of prompts and info, but believe me, if your inspiration pulls you off in another direction I will be absolutely delighted by that too! I can’t wait to find out where you go with all this. This is my first time participating in a freeform exchange, so I’m especially curious about how that’s going to work!

I kind of figured I shouldn’t request absolutely every freeform that I might conceivably enjoy for a given pairing, so I tried to keep it to the ones that I found most thematically intriguing/aligned with what I’m craving right now. (And … apparently I’m really feeling a certain amount of push/pull and humor right now, though not necessarily for ALL my requests? A whole lot of banter and such going on, here.) I’ve added a few more that I’d find fun for each request below, just for kicks - obviously nothing you need to adhere to.

I really hope you have fun with this, whatever you wind up making! Thank you so much!

General Likes | Art Likes | Smut Likes | DNWs
The Expanse | The Locked Tomb | Sailor Moon | Sex Education | X-Men

( All the details are in here! )

Happy 2021! Thank goodness. And I'm thrilled to be ringing in the new year with one of my favorite exchanges!

Thank you so much for creating for me. Chocolate Box is supposed to be a low-pressure exchange, so I hope you'll find this a fun exercise and not stress about it. As usual, while I am going to provide at least a couple of possible prompts for each request, they are strictly optional. Barring my DNWs, I'd be delighted to see anything you come up with in these fandoms!

Without further ado:

General Likes | Art Likes | Smut Likes | DNWs | DCU (Comics) | The Locked Tomb
Marvel (Comics) | Sex Education | Star Wars Sequel Trilogy | Crossovers

( All the details are in here! )

Hey there! So first of all, thank you so much in advance for making something for me. I’m so glad to be starting one of my favorite fandom exchanges … it feels like an oasis in this awful year we’ve all been living through. I’m super excited to see what you come up with!

I am a wordy letter-writer who tries to provide lots of info/prompts because I find that sort of thing helpful and fun as a creator, but I definitely don’t want you to feel fenced in by it all! I hope you’ll have fun making whatever you make, and run with your own ideas if you have some that grab you.

( likes, DNWs, fandoms & pairings )

Oof, okay, putting my teal deer back in their pen. Thanks so much, and happy fanworking! Yay.