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! Thanks so much for being my writer this year. I’m deeply excited to see what you come up with, and I hope you have fun with it. I am really into all these canons, and I’m delighted that we have that in common!

(And hello to any random browsers or window-shoppers. I hope you’re having a good time too! Since this is a thing now: I am absolutely open to treats - and giddily grateful if you feel inspired in that direction.)

All my requested fandoms are in the “Books & Literature” category, but they range in length from a fairy tale that would barely meet the Yuletide minimum word count to a four-book series (although my request focuses on one particular volume). There’s a darker trend to them, with a lot of themes around abuse, repressive circumstances and troubled interpersonal relationships. My Yuletide tastes tend to run in the direction of hope and positive change for the characters (even if stuff is pretty messy or creepy, and almost certainly complicated on the way there) - though the degree to which this is possible obviously depends a good deal on the details!

I’ll save any additional rambling for the individual canons; there are thoughts and prompts (and in most cases, links to promo posts) below. (Sometimes there are a LOT of thoughts and/or prompts. I absolutely do not expect you to adhere to them - they’re there for you to use if you want to, or if not, not!) I’ll just end the letter portion by noting that Yuletide is a long, longtime favorite seasonal tradition for me, and I’m just really happy to be back for another year. I hope you have a fantastic Yuletide - whatever that means to you!

( DNWs, requests and prompts! )

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! )

femslashex reveals are up! I had a lovely time creating this year, as always.


ardor (Carmilla, Carmilla/Laura, T)
"... with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips traveled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs ..."
for KannaOphelia

Floriography (This Is How You Lose The Time War, Red/Blue, G)
Another form of esoteric, archaic epistolary communication ...
for Shadaras

stay put (Wayfarers Series, Rosemary/Sissix, T)
One advantage of mammalian girlfriends: they’re so WARM.
for Stonestrewn

I also received an absolutely delightful Original Fiction story from TheseusInTheMaze, about a witch in trouble who transforms into a cat to escape, only to land in the very inviting lap of a visiting queen ... and quite understandably, struggles to find the will to change back: Shapes, and Their Influence.

I'm deep in Yuletiding now, naturally. And also, this looks like it could be a lot of fun ... I think I might put up a "tree." (You should too! I'm hoping to do some treating.)



Life is ... really, really difficult right now, in a quiet, grinding way. I am going to indulge in as much fannish holiday nonsense as I can possibly manage, because egad, do I need an escape.

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.

( Squee, likes and DNWs. )

And on to the fandom-specific stuff:

( His Dark Materials (TV) )

( Labyrinth (1986) )

( Leverage )

( Lucifer (TV) )

( Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch )

( Wayfarers - Becky Chambers )

Okay, I'm stopping. ;) Whatever you wind up making, I hope you have fun, and I can't wait to see/read!

( Yay!! General stuff. )

Specific preferences/prompts/etc by fandom, in alphabetical order (there is definitely no order of preference):

( A Song For A New Day - Sarah Pinsker )

( Chronin - Ali Wilgus )

( The Enchanted April - Elizabeth von Arnim )

( The Future of Another Timeline - Annalee Newitz )

( The Witch Family - Eleanor Estes )

( Wayfarers - Becky Chambers )

… and that is quite enough from me! Happy writing, and I hope you have a fun and un-stressful Yuletide! Thank you again!!

Oh my gosh. I just have an embarrassment of fannish holiday riches this year ... I'm a little beside myself. <3 How is everyone so awesome?

This has been, as I've said before, an extremely difficult year for me on a personal level, as well, of course, as on the larger social/political scale, and just. I can't say how grateful I've been for my fannish and online communities. This is just above and beyond. <3 (I am completely exhausted, because I stayed up until about 4:30 a.m. trying to finish art presents for my family, after spending the bulk of my 'free' time for the last few weeks working on commissions. So that's totally why I'm tearing up. No, really.)

For yuletide, I received three lovely stories:

The Kerkylas Society (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Phryne/Mac, Explicit)
In which blackmail and untimely death are plaguing a discreet Melbourne ladies' club, and Mac brings Phryne in to investigate. The plot is, of course, a bit sad and difficult, but handled well. The characters and their relationship are delightfully true to the material.

Interspecies Anatomy Lessons (Wayfarers series, Rosemary/Sissix, Explicit)
A porny little tag to the scene where Rosemary & Sissix get together in The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet, complete with delightful silliness, frank exploration and comparative anatomy. Just what I wanted, jfc.

Tea and Time Travel (Oxford Time Travel, gen, General Audiences)
Set immediately after the end of All Clear: Verity Kindle and Kivrin Engle step in to offer Polly Churchill some advice and support in her disorienting position, returning home subjective months and literal years later than ever intended. The post-time-travel historian solidarity I wanted so badly! OMG, so great!

And, for startreksecretsanta, this adorable fic:

My Dear Doctor by justabrain (Garak/Bashir, General Audiences)
On-station fake relationship fic! :D Delightfully tropey and fun; when Bashir hesitantly proposes that Garak pretend to be his boyfriend to set some visiting aliens at ease wrt his trustworthiness (since they value serious relationships as a sign of the same), Garak predictably goes right for it. It's just the right kind of fluff for this versatile pairing, and makes me so very happy.

How many times can I use variations on "delightful" in one post? But seriously, the warm fuzzies are just through the roof over here.

I need to get some sleep, and then I'm finally allowed to start reading A Stitch In Time and thinking (even more) about lizard aliens, lies and betrayal ... ;)

I’ve been thinking about posting here again (for things other than exchange letters) a whole bunch lately, especially with rumors of Tumblr’s increasing instability as a platform, and my lack of motivation to check out this Imzy thing. Oh, I’m sure if that’s where the next great migration lands, I’ll wind up following. But in the meantime, I miss this space, the sense of having a stable ’home’ for my fannish/private self online. I doubt I’ll ever post more than sporadically, since a lot of my internet/social media time is taken up by my more public persona, but even so.


Anyway, speaking of exchanges, sign-ups are open for femslashex, and you should totally get in on it. It’s become my favorite annual fannish event, for fairly obvious reasons ... all femslash, massively multifandom, and includes fanart. I really like this trend in fanwork exchanges, even though there are a fairly small number of fanart pieces every year; I’m not sure if it’s the problem with outreach to fanartists (this is definitely an issue, and one I’m at a loss with), the number of people only requesting fanfic, or both. (Request fanart, people. Please? I mean, I get wanting a story, but we make nice things toooo, and we want to make them for you!)


Also, possibly because I’ve become a heavy Goodreads user in the past year (and am thus much more conscious of what I’ve read when), I find myself wanting so many small SFF book fandoms lately. So I made a fairly tl;dr post over on my tumblr with some recs for books you should read and sign up for in exchanges! And now I’m going to crosspost it here.

( The Craft Sequence, by Max Gladstone )

( Wayfarers, by Becky Chambers )

( The Arcadia Project, by Mishell Baker )

Yuletide, here I come.