Dear Yuletide Author
Oct. 16th, 2022 10:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkHi! Thank you very much for writing a story for me! :D
Things I like:
* Friendship/found family fic is wonderful. Characters who grow to like each other, trust each other, and eventually would do many things for each other, yes please. Especially when they started out on different sides/in different places/have different allegiances and interests/have a difficult history/there are obstacles etc.
* I enjoy hurt/comfort, especially emotional h/c. Angst with a good pay-off and comfort at the end is great.
* I'm a big fan of loyalty/fealty, betrayal, (self-)sacrifice, atonement, and related tropes.
* Canon-divergent AUs and time travel stories are always great.
* Some other things I love: competent characters, plot, adventure, hugs…
I'm fine with all POVs (i.e., first, second, third), tenses, ratings, story lengths, unusual formats, etc.
Treats are very welcome!
Things I don't like for Yuletide:
* Stories with a very dark or hopeless ending
* Explicit rape or abuse
* Character bashing
* PWP without character development
* Non-canonical romantic pairings
* Different world AUs, like coffeeshop AUs or Star Wars fusions. I love the canon worlds of all these fandoms so I'd prefer to read fic taking place there.
Have fun! The prompts below are guidelines, I hope they help you think of ideas.
Phoenotopia: Awakening
Characters: Gail, Bart, Zero
I would especially love post-canon fic for this game. What happens after Zero wakes up? How do you prepare for a war against a massive empire while leading only a small expedition, in a very short amount of time, on a planet mostly unaware of their allies' existence or the existence of alien life in general, using recently-awoken-from-cryo very powerful supersoldiers that you know very little about? How do you deal with knowing you are one of these supersoldiers, and you have to fight to defend the whole planet and what little remains of your family while your brother and the rest of the village are still lost somewhere in space? How do you deal with waking up and finding out it's been centuries of sleep, you're still expected to fight but the world is completely different now, the people around you are very different, and the person you think is your new master claims to be your friend? And what happens after the epilogue? I forgot to nominate it separately but worldbuilding would be great, especially about the Stellanites and the Phoenixes.
I really like Gail's friendship with Bart, and I wonder if/how it'll change with what Gail learned and the new positions they find themselves in. And I think Gail and Zero, as well as Bart and Zero, could have fascinating relationships as well: is Zero going to train her, and she can help him adjust to the future? Is Bart going to be Zero's master or friend or somehow both? (Feel free to leave out either Bart or Zero if you like.)
I also enjoy the supporting cast a lot, Leo and Lisa and Alex and Birdy and Fran and Georgia and the whole region of Aurantia. Did the trolls and harpies participate in the battle? Maybe one day Gail can show Lisa and Alex Terrelum. Maybe/definitely eventually Kitt and the others will come back, or be rescued by Gail & friends, and then have to adjust to all the changes.
Dice Disasters
Characters: Jasmin Seller, Max Orland, Cody Masterson
Sadly the podcast episodes aren't available online anymore :( (There are some transcripts online, and I have several episodes downloaded but not all of them.) But I still remember these characters very fondly and would love more stories about them. I love how supportive they are of each other, how they help each other with their fears and insecurities and encourage each other, and how protective and loyal they are. My favorite relationships are Jasmin&Cody and Jasmin&Max (and it's fine if you only include two characters.) I like the whole party a lot and I'd be delighted to see any of the others too.
Some prompts if you want them:
- Jasmin and Max' time in prison
- downtime and/or adventures during their time in the Dream Grove
- the rest of the party finding out about Zan's warlock patron
- Max summoned a steed, but surely he didn't expect Zolmorog, Defyer of Untold Horrors. "Pickles" called him "consort to the Prince of Darkness" – why, who is that, and what if they meet him?
- what happens if they do find the way "back home", or after their return? Or if they find out that there is no way back?
Tales of the Otori – Lian Hearn
Characters: Muto Taku
I read "The Harsh Cry of the Heron" years ago and still every time I see it on my shelf I think about how much I'd love fix-it fic for the second generation. Taku is my favorite, but I also like Maya and Miki a lot, and Shigeko too. One of my favorite fix-it scenarios is "what if Taku had been actually competent at his job," but I'm very flexible! It doesn't need to be a perfect happily ever after for everyone, but something more hopeful, with Taku and Maya and Miki all alive, would be very nice.
Some more ideas for canon divergence AUs:
- What if Taku and/or Kenji managed to take Hisao away from the Kikuta as a child or teenager?
- What if Taku figured out Zenko's and Akio's plans sooner, how would he deal with them?
- What if instead of fleeing Taku&Sada&Maya had decided to kill Akio and succeeded?
Taku also has many interesting relationships with other people that I'd enjoy seeing more of, for example Hiroshi. I enjoyed Taku/Sada (to my own surprise), and Maya as their kitten. We barely see Taku interact with Miki or Shigeko in canon, I wonder what that could look like. Exploring his relationship with Kenji and the wider Muto clan could be interesting, or Taku's feelings toward Takeo and how much he is or isn't loyal to him, or his feelings on being a part of/being torn between two worlds. Or Taku's relationship with his mother Shizuka which we saw very little of, and even Taku's relationship with Zenko could be interesting to explore (even though I usually want to set Zenko on fire. But what if they got along better?) Or Taku could interact with people he doesn't meet in canon at all, like Hisao, or Yuki.
I'm not a fan of Hiroshi/Shigeko and would prefer it not come up. The one character where I definitely don't want to see a redeemed version is Kikuta Akio.
Things I like:
* Friendship/found family fic is wonderful. Characters who grow to like each other, trust each other, and eventually would do many things for each other, yes please. Especially when they started out on different sides/in different places/have different allegiances and interests/have a difficult history/there are obstacles etc.
* I enjoy hurt/comfort, especially emotional h/c. Angst with a good pay-off and comfort at the end is great.
* I'm a big fan of loyalty/fealty, betrayal, (self-)sacrifice, atonement, and related tropes.
* Canon-divergent AUs and time travel stories are always great.
* Some other things I love: competent characters, plot, adventure, hugs…
I'm fine with all POVs (i.e., first, second, third), tenses, ratings, story lengths, unusual formats, etc.
Treats are very welcome!
Things I don't like for Yuletide:
* Stories with a very dark or hopeless ending
* Explicit rape or abuse
* Character bashing
* PWP without character development
* Non-canonical romantic pairings
* Different world AUs, like coffeeshop AUs or Star Wars fusions. I love the canon worlds of all these fandoms so I'd prefer to read fic taking place there.
Have fun! The prompts below are guidelines, I hope they help you think of ideas.
Phoenotopia: Awakening
Characters: Gail, Bart, Zero
I would especially love post-canon fic for this game. What happens after Zero wakes up? How do you prepare for a war against a massive empire while leading only a small expedition, in a very short amount of time, on a planet mostly unaware of their allies' existence or the existence of alien life in general, using recently-awoken-from-cryo very powerful supersoldiers that you know very little about? How do you deal with knowing you are one of these supersoldiers, and you have to fight to defend the whole planet and what little remains of your family while your brother and the rest of the village are still lost somewhere in space? How do you deal with waking up and finding out it's been centuries of sleep, you're still expected to fight but the world is completely different now, the people around you are very different, and the person you think is your new master claims to be your friend? And what happens after the epilogue? I forgot to nominate it separately but worldbuilding would be great, especially about the Stellanites and the Phoenixes.
I really like Gail's friendship with Bart, and I wonder if/how it'll change with what Gail learned and the new positions they find themselves in. And I think Gail and Zero, as well as Bart and Zero, could have fascinating relationships as well: is Zero going to train her, and she can help him adjust to the future? Is Bart going to be Zero's master or friend or somehow both? (Feel free to leave out either Bart or Zero if you like.)
I also enjoy the supporting cast a lot, Leo and Lisa and Alex and Birdy and Fran and Georgia and the whole region of Aurantia. Did the trolls and harpies participate in the battle? Maybe one day Gail can show Lisa and Alex Terrelum. Maybe/definitely eventually Kitt and the others will come back, or be rescued by Gail & friends, and then have to adjust to all the changes.
Dice Disasters
Characters: Jasmin Seller, Max Orland, Cody Masterson
Sadly the podcast episodes aren't available online anymore :( (There are some transcripts online, and I have several episodes downloaded but not all of them.) But I still remember these characters very fondly and would love more stories about them. I love how supportive they are of each other, how they help each other with their fears and insecurities and encourage each other, and how protective and loyal they are. My favorite relationships are Jasmin&Cody and Jasmin&Max (and it's fine if you only include two characters.) I like the whole party a lot and I'd be delighted to see any of the others too.
Some prompts if you want them:
- Jasmin and Max' time in prison
- downtime and/or adventures during their time in the Dream Grove
- the rest of the party finding out about Zan's warlock patron
- Max summoned a steed, but surely he didn't expect Zolmorog, Defyer of Untold Horrors. "Pickles" called him "consort to the Prince of Darkness" – why, who is that, and what if they meet him?
- what happens if they do find the way "back home", or after their return? Or if they find out that there is no way back?
Tales of the Otori – Lian Hearn
Characters: Muto Taku
I read "The Harsh Cry of the Heron" years ago and still every time I see it on my shelf I think about how much I'd love fix-it fic for the second generation. Taku is my favorite, but I also like Maya and Miki a lot, and Shigeko too. One of my favorite fix-it scenarios is "what if Taku had been actually competent at his job," but I'm very flexible! It doesn't need to be a perfect happily ever after for everyone, but something more hopeful, with Taku and Maya and Miki all alive, would be very nice.
Some more ideas for canon divergence AUs:
- What if Taku and/or Kenji managed to take Hisao away from the Kikuta as a child or teenager?
- What if Taku figured out Zenko's and Akio's plans sooner, how would he deal with them?
- What if instead of fleeing Taku&Sada&Maya had decided to kill Akio and succeeded?
Taku also has many interesting relationships with other people that I'd enjoy seeing more of, for example Hiroshi. I enjoyed Taku/Sada (to my own surprise), and Maya as their kitten. We barely see Taku interact with Miki or Shigeko in canon, I wonder what that could look like. Exploring his relationship with Kenji and the wider Muto clan could be interesting, or Taku's feelings toward Takeo and how much he is or isn't loyal to him, or his feelings on being a part of/being torn between two worlds. Or Taku's relationship with his mother Shizuka which we saw very little of, and even Taku's relationship with Zenko could be interesting to explore (even though I usually want to set Zenko on fire. But what if they got along better?) Or Taku could interact with people he doesn't meet in canon at all, like Hisao, or Yuki.
I'm not a fan of Hiroshi/Shigeko and would prefer it not come up. The one character where I definitely don't want to see a redeemed version is Kikuta Akio.
