Dear Yuletide Writer, 2016
Every year when fall rolls around - or, as Californians in my neck of the woods have been known to call it, “second summer” - my heart starts beating a little more quickly. Because if it’s fall, that means it’s time for Yuletide! And Yuletide, as everyone knows, is one of the highlights of the holiday season.
Welcome, dear writer. :) I love Yuletide. This will be my sixth year, and every single year has been fabulous. If you’re writing a fic for me, please know that it is incredibly hard to disappoint me. I’m like a kid in a candy store - unless it’s black licorice (i.e., on my squicks list), I pretty much covet anything and everything. I want you to write something you enjoy and love, in one of the fantastic fandoms we share. Does half a prompt inspire you, but you want to mix-and-match it with half of a prompt from another fandom section? Go for it! Do you have a wonderful idea that only really has space for one/some of my requested characters? That’s fine! Do you want to ignore my fandom prompts and take your cue from one of my general likes instead? Fabulous!
Finally, I have received some truly magnificent gift fic over the past five Yuletides. I just want to thank all my authors again. You’re wonderful. ♥
Letter time!
[things I love] // [squicks and DNWs]
[Wimsey] // [Marple] // [Amelia Peabody] // [Damar] // [US Politics RPF]
•• things I love ••
writing things
~ Unreliable narrators.
~ Epistolary fic.
~ Slow build.
~ In medias res.
~ Twist endings.
~ Rashomon style.
~ Noodle incidents.
~ Non-linear fic.
~ Worldbuilding.
~ Five-times fic.
~ Crossovers between my requested fandoms. (Jane and Harriet and Amelia in the same fic? Be still my heart.)
~ Happy endings; earned happy endings.
~ Canon-divergence; codas; missing scenes.
romantic things
~ Falling in love (especially when the characters don’t realize that’s what they’re doing).
~ Characters in love who have difficulty making the first move (particularly if it’s mutual).
~ Established relationships (particularly the old-marriedness and cosy bits).
~ Kissing; thorough kissing.
~ Cuddling and domesticity.
~ Laughter and derailments and affection during sex.
plot things
~ Adventures.
~ Mysteries.
~ Characters with plans; characters with plans that go wrong; characters who adapt.
~ Teasing, snark, and banter.
~ Working through problems.
~ Competence and skill, both earned and innate.
~ Friendships; intimate friendships; developing friendships; trust and love and loyalty.
~ Cats.
general things
~ Any rating - G through NC-17. (If the latter, I am fond of plot and/or character moments in my porn.)
~ Any length. Stories all have natural lengths; I wouldn’t be disappointed by a 1001-word gift (or a 100-word treat), and neither would I regard a 20K gift as a burden to read. Write what gives you joy.
~ Any type of pairing - femslash, slash, het, and gen friendships are all great. I do have a particular soft spot for femslash if you’re putting in background pairings.
~ I don’t have a preference between past and present tense. Whichever works for your story!
~ Crossovers and fusions are fine, as long as I have requested both/all fandoms in this or a prior exchange. (Or mentioned the fandom in a prompt, even if not officially requested.)
~ Since it’s been a topic of discussion this year: if you’re a treater rather than an assigned author, you really do have carte blanche. Apart from my DNW list, go wild. Experimental formats, second-person POV, artwork or meta, the omission of my requested characters, wacky crossovers, crack, silliness - anything you can think of, I’m good with.
porn things
See my Yuleporn comment from last year. :)
~
•• squicks and DNWs ••
~ Pain, horror, and death. This includes torture, gore, and BDSM. (In mystery canons, canon-typical murders are fine, as long as the graphic details aren’t exceptionally graphic.)
~ Anything but full consent. This includes non-con, dub-con, incest, and underage sex.
~ Animal harm. This includes bestiality, hunting, and animal death. (In Wimsey, it would be fine to mention that Denver enjoys hunting and include that as one of his topics of conversation, but I would not enjoy a fic set during one of his hunts.)
~ Bodily fluids.
~ Infidelity by requested characters.
~ Any form of abuse in the relationships or friendships of the requested characters. (Fine to include as, say, backstory as to why a murder victim became a murder victim, as long as the details are canon-typical and not exceptionally graphic.)
~ Unhappy endings; unrelieved angst.
~ Racism, homophobia, and/or misogyny espoused by sympathetic characters.
~
FANDOM NUMBER ONE:
Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
Characters: Harriet Vane
Signup text: First of all, this is one of my favorite fictional universes of all time. Any story featuring Harriet will make my Yuletide a happy one! If you already have a plotbunny - or if any of the general likes in my letter inspire one - go for it! It'd be fun to be surprised with something. :)
A few prompts (more in my letter): Harriet and Peter solve a domestic mystery together. Harriet and Helen have to work together for some reason; what happens? St. George brings someone unacceptable home to Wimsey Family Christmas, and Harriet is one of his only allies. (What might Wimsey Family Christmas look like, anyway?) Harriet and the Dowager Duchess spending time together doing just about anything. Does Peter ever try to write a mystery, and if so, what's his style and what does Harriet think of it? How might Harriet and Peter have met and fallen in love in a canon-divergent AU?
I have had a ridiculous amount of love for these characters for a very long time. Gaudy Night is usually the title I give when I'm forced to pick a favorite book (although it's like picking a favorite child!), and Wimsey is one of my favorite exchange fandoms. I just adore the universe and everyone in it. The mysteries! Harriet and Peter (and trusty Bunter)! Helen being so Helenish! The Dowager Duchess and Miss Climpson being so fantastic!! St George and his hijinks! Photography and old books and poetry and falling asleep in a punt! It's all simply marvelous.
I am attempting right now to not be totally hopeless and just say "anything, dear writer!" It is hard. Some ideas, though, in addition to the ones in my signup:
• Outsider POV is one of my favorites, so what does St George think of the events in Gaudy Night, and his uncle's relationship with Harriet? What about an epistolary fic from Helen about Peter's idiocy in the Vane affair? The Dowager Duchess telling her diary/Miss Climpson writing a friend about Harriet & Peter's wedding and all the commotion?
• Harriet tells Peter about the punt incident. They go punting again.
• What was it like for Harriet to marry into the Wimsey family? To have in-laws like Gerald and Helen, a scapegrace nephew like St George, and a mother-in-law like the Dowager? That's a pretty daunting prospect - was Harriet ever daunted? What were her first meetings with them like?
• Does anyone else in the family ever attempt to try their hand at writing a mystery story, and what does Harriet think of their attempts? They'd each have unique styles, I'm guessing. ;) I'm cracking up imagining a Dowager Duchess one, or a St George one. (I can't even imagine a Helen one, though.)
• Wimsey Family Christmas! Do they play parlor games? What are charades like in the Wimsey family? (Or would Helen disapprove too much for anything like that? Perhaps this is a Harriet-Peter get-together at their London house with St George, the Dowager, Mary, Parker, etc., without Gerald & Helen and all the pomp of Official Family Christmas.) Does the next generation learn how to solve a mystery with Peter or Harriet’s guidance? What does Harriet and Peter’s first Christmas together look like?
• Sort-of combining the two previous prompts, is one of the parlor games at Christmas something to do with deduction? Or telling a mystery story and challenging the others to guess the solution?
• AU in which Peter is the detective novelist, and Harriet the detective who rescues him from the noose.
• What if Harriet fell in love with a woman instead? (My preference would be for an OC.)
• Harriet and Peter on their thirtieth wedding anniversary.
If none of these prompts speak to you, however, please write me a story that you love. And if something in my general likes inspires a plotbunny, feel free to let that supersede these prompts. I love this fandom and will truly enjoy your fic. ♥
~
FANDOM NUMBER TWO:
Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Character: Jane Marple
Signup text: Jane Marple is my heroine. She’s both utterly badass and utterly adorable, and I love stories that balance the two. Jane will solve murders and win hearts at the same time, and finish her knitting projects while she’s at it. Tell me a story about Jane! If you already have a plotbunny - or if any of the general likes in my letter inspire one - go for it! I love surprises. :)
A few prompts (more in my letter): What was the first murder Jane solved? (Or the first mystery in general.) Was that the first time she noticed her extraordinary deductive gifts, or were they previously useful in other contexts? Does she ever train an apprentice? Has she ever been in love? (I would adore a femslash pairing for Jane.) Has a murderer ever succeeded in deceiving her?
Jane is one of my favorite characters in fiction, so I will love any story about her, whether you set it when she’s ten or when she’s ninety. I love the way she comes across as so sweetly dotty and harmless to people who don’t know her (including murderers whom she’s chasing), and how word of her skills spreads among people in the business. I love how she truly cares about her community, and thus does what she can to keep it humming along, while having an astute view of the seamier side of human nature. I love the way her detecting mind works, and how she solves big mysteries by seeing the patterns she’s observed in smaller mysteries.
My preference is for a fic set around/in/after a new case, rather than drawing from a Christie story (but feel free to start in medias res or omit most of the details if you’d like - I’m not suggesting that you have to write me an entirely new Marple novel or anything). If you’d rather set the fic in an existing story, however, that’s okay too. :)
Some ideas in addition to the ones in my signup:
• Outsider POV is one of my favorite writing styles. How does someone who’s not Jane (a detective? A village resident? A relative? A housemaid? A murderer?) observe her habits and method during a murder case?
• Does Jane ever try her hand at writing a mystery? Alternatively, does she read mysteries and point out their flaws?
• Crossovers with other mystery series are great! (Please no Sherlock, however, except perhaps as part of a five-times fic, since he’s not really in the Yuletide Spirit.) Jane and Poirot/Ariadne Oliver, Jane and Harriet/Peter, Jane and Nero Wolfe, Jane and Amelia Peabody, Jane and Phryne Fisher - I would love to read all of these. I do ship Jane/the Dowager Duchess, but am happy to read friendship gen for them as well.
• Case fic is of course always loved. (But I know firsthand how hard it is and by no means expect it or have my heart set on it.)
• An AU which adds a long-term female partner to Jane’s life - perhaps Jane tells her about her suspicions of mysterious happenings in the village? - would be wonderful.
• Jane falling in love - whether as a younger woman or at her canonical advanced age - would be fantastic. I personally would adore femslash, but if you prefer het I would enjoy that too.
• How legendary is Jane in the law enforcement community?
• How about a fic set at Christmas/during the holidays? Especially since familial tensions often do rise during family get-togethers, so somebody getting murdered and Jane being called in is a real possibility.
• Jane and cats.
If none of these prompts speak to you, however, please write me a story that you love. And if something in my general likes inspires a plotbunny, feel free to let that supersede these prompts. I love this fandom and will truly enjoy your fic. ♥
~
FANDOM NUMBER THREE:
Amelia Peabody - Elizabeth Peters
Character: Amelia Peabody Emerson
Signup text: Amelia is such a fabulous character. I love her strength and her foibles, her idiosyncracies and her fabulously distinct narrative voice, her love for Emerson and her love for archaelogy. Tell me a story about Amelia! If you already have a plotbunny - or if any of the general likes in my letter inspire one - go for it! I love surprises. :)
A few prompts (more in my letter): I know Amelia didn’t have adventures as a girl, but she was still Amelia - tell me a story that hints at the woman she would later become. Or how about a story about her friendship with Evelyn over the years; five times Amelia rescued Evelyn and one time Evelyn rescued Amelia, maybe? (Five-times fic in general is great.) Or, since I ship Amelia & Emerson like burning, how about a story about the two of them having an adventure? (Either a missing scene from a book or an entirely new adventure.)
Amelia is, quite simply, fantastic, and I will love any story about her.
Although I have read the entire series, my favorite books are the first five (before Nefret comes on the scene), and I would prefer a fic set during that period. But if you love the later books, I will enjoy fics set during that period too! (Perhaps keeping the focus on Amelia rather than Nefret/Ramses, though.)
In addition to the canon ships of Amelia/Emerson and Evelyn/Walter, I also ship Amelia/Evelyn (not in the same fic as Amelia/Emerson, please).
Some ideas in addition to the ones in my signup:
• Outsider POV is one of my favorite writing styles. To take only a couple of examples (feel free to create your own!), I’d love to see Evelyn and/or Walter’s view of Amelia and Emerson’s courtship, one of the Egyptian staff’s impressions of Amelia & Emerson and their archaeological dig, or a child-Ramses narrator telling a story of a childhood adventure with his mother.
• Canon-divergence AU in which Amelia and Evelyn are the ones who fall in love. (Or Amelia and Jane Marple!)
• Jane or Poirot comes to Egypt. How do they and Amelia get on?
• Case fic is of course always loved. (But I know firsthand how hard it is and by no means expect it or have my heart set on it.)
• Does Amelia ever try her hand at writing a mystery? What is her writing style? What kind of characters does she include, and do they bear any resemblance to people in her life? What do Emerson and/or Evelyn think of it?
• Amelia and Emerson. Any rating. Affectionate G-rated romance, super-porny romp, or anything in between.
• How legendary is Amelia in the archaeological community? (Or perhaps a mock essay/historical biography about Amelia written by a modern-day historian!)
• An article in a contemporary ladies’ journal about Amelia, her adventures, her scholarly work, and her unique sense of style.
• THE CATS.
If none of these prompts speak to you, however, please write me a story that you love. And if something in my general likes inspires a plotbunny, feel free to let that supersede these prompts. I love this fandom and will truly enjoy your fic. ♥
~
FANDOM NUMBER FOUR:
Damar Series - Robin McKinley
Characters: Harry Crewe
Signup text: Harry! Isn’t she wonderful? I love her journey over the course of the book, her character growth, and her developing relationships with the men and women she meets. Snatched out of her own world, she creates a new life for herself, and oh, wins a war and protects both of her worlds along the way. Tell me a story about Harry! If you already have a plotbunny - or if any of the general likes in my letter inspire one - go for it! I love surprises. :)
A few prompts (more in my letter): How about a five-times fic looking at her different friendships? Or perhaps an AU in which Corlath doesn’t kidnap her; how does her life in Istan unfold differently? (Does she still end up in Damar somehow?) What adventures do she and Corlath, or she and Senay, or she and Mathin, have after the events of the novel? Or perhaps you, like me, ship Harry/Corlath like burning - I’d love to see a shippy and/or porny fic about the two of them.
Harry’s one of the beloved heroes of my childhood, and I’ll love any fic you write about her. :)
Some ideas in addition to the ones in my signup:
• Outsider POV is one of my favorite writing styles. To take only a couple of examples (feel free to create your own!), I’d love to see Mathin’s view of Harry’s training and transformation, Jack’s impressions of the changed Harry and her new role in Damar, or Lady Amelia’s version of her visit when Aerin Amelia is born. Or of course you could use Corlath as your narrator!
• Canon-divergence AU in which Harry and Senay are the ones who fall in love.
• Harry and Corlath, any rating. Affectionate G-rated romance, super-porny romp, or anything in between.
• Does Harry ever travel back Home, whether as a diplomat/emissary for Damar or as a private citizen? Does anyone go with her (Corlath, Jack, Richard, one of her children, etc.)?
• What does she teach her children about her old world (or does she?)
• I love fic about cultural differences. What are the little things that still throw Harry off sometimes, because she’s expecting one thing and gets another?
• Narknon! What does Narknon think of her human’s life, predilections, and annoying tendency to kick her off the bed to socialize with the other human?
If none of these prompts speak to you, however, please write me a story that you love. And if something in my general likes inspires a plotbunny, feel free to let that supersede these prompts. I love this fandom and will truly enjoy your fic. ♥
~
FANDOM NUMBER FIVE:
Political RPF - US 21st c.
Characters: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan
Note: I give explicit permission for you to include whichever of my requested characters fit your story. You don’t need to include all three together.
Signup text: My Supreme Court heroines! I respect these three women and their work immensely. Ruth has been my favorite Justice for forever, and Sonia and Elena have quickly joined her in recent years. (Sonia’s fiery dissent in Utah v. Strieff!) Tell me a story about them, and you will make me a happy Yuletider. :)
A few prompts (more in my letter): How about the first time Ruth met Sonia and Elena? Do Sonia and Elena bond as the new women on the court? Do they look up to Ruth, and does she give them any advice? Do the three of them have a secret code or codeword for when the conservative men on the court are being simply too infuriating and/or casually sexist? What do they think of Donald Trump behind closed doors? How might their professional relationship deepen into real friendship?
Like I said in my signup, Ruth is one of my heroines, and I deeply respect Sonia and Elena too. I would love to read any story about them.
Some ideas in addition to the ones in my signup:
• Outsider POV is one of my favorite writing styles. To take only a couple of examples (feel free to create your own!), I’d love to see President Obama’s view of the three Justices, or the impressions of one of Ruth’s clerks as she watched the two new Justices adjusting to life on the Court, or the thoughts of one of the waitresses at their favorite lunchtime spots.
• Canon-divergence AU in which Ruth is Chief Justice! Or in which Barack became a Justice instead of President (perhaps being named by President Hillary?)
• Their relationship as seen through the lens of a particular case’s slow progress through the Court’s system.
• A day in the life of oral arguments.
• What do the three Justices do to relax together?
• While I am primarily interested in gen friendships in this fandom, I am also open to Sonia/Elena shipfic. Tell me how they fell in love over briefs and drafts of opinions and half-drunk cups of coffee!
• I would also be interested in a fic about the aftermath of Obergefell v. Hodges, in which a lesbian Elena or Sonia found themselves unexpectedly overcome by emotion at being a part of this leap forward (while still recognizing how far we still have to go). (Bonus points if one/both of the others knew how much it meant to them.)
• An AU crossover with the West Wing in which the Justices are on the Court during the Santos Administration. (With or without the wonderful Evelyn Baker Lang.)
• Cats. For any or all of the Justices. Maybe they even bond over cats! Maybe Elena’s cat has kittens and Sonia adopts one! Are they named anything judicially related?
If none of these prompts speak to you, however, please write me a story that you love. And if something in my general likes inspires a plotbunny, feel free to let that supersede these prompts. I love this fandom and will truly enjoy your fic. ♥
(One final note: Tart/sarcastic opinions on the current election are welcome, as long as you keep in mind that I’m a) somewhat to the left of Bernie, b) recognize Hillary’s flaws but still respect her and deeply want her to be President, and c) am incredibly worried about Trump winning the election. So whistling in the dark comments are fine, snide remarks about Bill’s wandering penis are fine, but Hillary-bashing or a fic in which Trump won would make me sad. Totally fine to leave out the election entirely if this doesn’t work for you.)
Election Day update, through tears: If we matched on this fandom, don't worry, I will still appreciate your fic. ♥ Please just be kind to Hillary, and me; I'm heartbroken and scared and devastated.
~
Hopefully this letter has been helpful! :) If you want more info, feel free to check out my other fandoms for ideas, and/or my past letters (under the exchange letters tag). A lot of my beloved tropes and plotbunnies are panfandom (with variations, of course, for the different beloved characters), and can be stolen for other fandoms.
Thank you again for offering one of my fandoms! ♥ I know I’ll love your fic. Happy creating, and happy Yuletide!
Welcome, dear writer. :) I love Yuletide. This will be my sixth year, and every single year has been fabulous. If you’re writing a fic for me, please know that it is incredibly hard to disappoint me. I’m like a kid in a candy store - unless it’s black licorice (i.e., on my squicks list), I pretty much covet anything and everything. I want you to write something you enjoy and love, in one of the fantastic fandoms we share. Does half a prompt inspire you, but you want to mix-and-match it with half of a prompt from another fandom section? Go for it! Do you have a wonderful idea that only really has space for one/some of my requested characters? That’s fine! Do you want to ignore my fandom prompts and take your cue from one of my general likes instead? Fabulous!
Finally, I have received some truly magnificent gift fic over the past five Yuletides. I just want to thank all my authors again. You’re wonderful. ♥
Letter time!
[things I love] // [squicks and DNWs]
[Wimsey] // [Marple] // [Amelia Peabody] // [Damar] // [US Politics RPF]
•• things I love ••
writing things
~ Unreliable narrators.
~ Epistolary fic.
~ Slow build.
~ In medias res.
~ Twist endings.
~ Rashomon style.
~ Noodle incidents.
~ Non-linear fic.
~ Worldbuilding.
~ Five-times fic.
~ Crossovers between my requested fandoms. (Jane and Harriet and Amelia in the same fic? Be still my heart.)
~ Happy endings; earned happy endings.
~ Canon-divergence; codas; missing scenes.
romantic things
~ Falling in love (especially when the characters don’t realize that’s what they’re doing).
~ Characters in love who have difficulty making the first move (particularly if it’s mutual).
~ Established relationships (particularly the old-marriedness and cosy bits).
~ Kissing; thorough kissing.
~ Cuddling and domesticity.
~ Laughter and derailments and affection during sex.
plot things
~ Adventures.
~ Mysteries.
~ Characters with plans; characters with plans that go wrong; characters who adapt.
~ Teasing, snark, and banter.
~ Working through problems.
~ Competence and skill, both earned and innate.
~ Friendships; intimate friendships; developing friendships; trust and love and loyalty.
~ Cats.
general things
~ Any rating - G through NC-17. (If the latter, I am fond of plot and/or character moments in my porn.)
~ Any length. Stories all have natural lengths; I wouldn’t be disappointed by a 1001-word gift (or a 100-word treat), and neither would I regard a 20K gift as a burden to read. Write what gives you joy.
~ Any type of pairing - femslash, slash, het, and gen friendships are all great. I do have a particular soft spot for femslash if you’re putting in background pairings.
~ I don’t have a preference between past and present tense. Whichever works for your story!
~ Crossovers and fusions are fine, as long as I have requested both/all fandoms in this or a prior exchange. (Or mentioned the fandom in a prompt, even if not officially requested.)
~ Since it’s been a topic of discussion this year: if you’re a treater rather than an assigned author, you really do have carte blanche. Apart from my DNW list, go wild. Experimental formats, second-person POV, artwork or meta, the omission of my requested characters, wacky crossovers, crack, silliness - anything you can think of, I’m good with.
porn things
See my Yuleporn comment from last year. :)
~
•• squicks and DNWs ••
~ Pain, horror, and death. This includes torture, gore, and BDSM. (In mystery canons, canon-typical murders are fine, as long as the graphic details aren’t exceptionally graphic.)
~ Anything but full consent. This includes non-con, dub-con, incest, and underage sex.
~ Animal harm. This includes bestiality, hunting, and animal death. (In Wimsey, it would be fine to mention that Denver enjoys hunting and include that as one of his topics of conversation, but I would not enjoy a fic set during one of his hunts.)
~ Bodily fluids.
~ Infidelity by requested characters.
~ Any form of abuse in the relationships or friendships of the requested characters. (Fine to include as, say, backstory as to why a murder victim became a murder victim, as long as the details are canon-typical and not exceptionally graphic.)
~ Unhappy endings; unrelieved angst.
~ Racism, homophobia, and/or misogyny espoused by sympathetic characters.
~
FANDOM NUMBER ONE:
Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
Characters: Harriet Vane
Signup text: First of all, this is one of my favorite fictional universes of all time. Any story featuring Harriet will make my Yuletide a happy one! If you already have a plotbunny - or if any of the general likes in my letter inspire one - go for it! It'd be fun to be surprised with something. :)
A few prompts (more in my letter): Harriet and Peter solve a domestic mystery together. Harriet and Helen have to work together for some reason; what happens? St. George brings someone unacceptable home to Wimsey Family Christmas, and Harriet is one of his only allies. (What might Wimsey Family Christmas look like, anyway?) Harriet and the Dowager Duchess spending time together doing just about anything. Does Peter ever try to write a mystery, and if so, what's his style and what does Harriet think of it? How might Harriet and Peter have met and fallen in love in a canon-divergent AU?
I have had a ridiculous amount of love for these characters for a very long time. Gaudy Night is usually the title I give when I'm forced to pick a favorite book (although it's like picking a favorite child!), and Wimsey is one of my favorite exchange fandoms. I just adore the universe and everyone in it. The mysteries! Harriet and Peter (and trusty Bunter)! Helen being so Helenish! The Dowager Duchess and Miss Climpson being so fantastic!! St George and his hijinks! Photography and old books and poetry and falling asleep in a punt! It's all simply marvelous.
I am attempting right now to not be totally hopeless and just say "anything, dear writer!" It is hard. Some ideas, though, in addition to the ones in my signup:
• Outsider POV is one of my favorites, so what does St George think of the events in Gaudy Night, and his uncle's relationship with Harriet? What about an epistolary fic from Helen about Peter's idiocy in the Vane affair? The Dowager Duchess telling her diary/Miss Climpson writing a friend about Harriet & Peter's wedding and all the commotion?
• Harriet tells Peter about the punt incident. They go punting again.
• What was it like for Harriet to marry into the Wimsey family? To have in-laws like Gerald and Helen, a scapegrace nephew like St George, and a mother-in-law like the Dowager? That's a pretty daunting prospect - was Harriet ever daunted? What were her first meetings with them like?
• Does anyone else in the family ever attempt to try their hand at writing a mystery story, and what does Harriet think of their attempts? They'd each have unique styles, I'm guessing. ;) I'm cracking up imagining a Dowager Duchess one, or a St George one. (I can't even imagine a Helen one, though.)
• Wimsey Family Christmas! Do they play parlor games? What are charades like in the Wimsey family? (Or would Helen disapprove too much for anything like that? Perhaps this is a Harriet-Peter get-together at their London house with St George, the Dowager, Mary, Parker, etc., without Gerald & Helen and all the pomp of Official Family Christmas.) Does the next generation learn how to solve a mystery with Peter or Harriet’s guidance? What does Harriet and Peter’s first Christmas together look like?
• Sort-of combining the two previous prompts, is one of the parlor games at Christmas something to do with deduction? Or telling a mystery story and challenging the others to guess the solution?
• AU in which Peter is the detective novelist, and Harriet the detective who rescues him from the noose.
• What if Harriet fell in love with a woman instead? (My preference would be for an OC.)
• Harriet and Peter on their thirtieth wedding anniversary.
If none of these prompts speak to you, however, please write me a story that you love. And if something in my general likes inspires a plotbunny, feel free to let that supersede these prompts. I love this fandom and will truly enjoy your fic. ♥
~
FANDOM NUMBER TWO:
Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Character: Jane Marple
Signup text: Jane Marple is my heroine. She’s both utterly badass and utterly adorable, and I love stories that balance the two. Jane will solve murders and win hearts at the same time, and finish her knitting projects while she’s at it. Tell me a story about Jane! If you already have a plotbunny - or if any of the general likes in my letter inspire one - go for it! I love surprises. :)
A few prompts (more in my letter): What was the first murder Jane solved? (Or the first mystery in general.) Was that the first time she noticed her extraordinary deductive gifts, or were they previously useful in other contexts? Does she ever train an apprentice? Has she ever been in love? (I would adore a femslash pairing for Jane.) Has a murderer ever succeeded in deceiving her?
Jane is one of my favorite characters in fiction, so I will love any story about her, whether you set it when she’s ten or when she’s ninety. I love the way she comes across as so sweetly dotty and harmless to people who don’t know her (including murderers whom she’s chasing), and how word of her skills spreads among people in the business. I love how she truly cares about her community, and thus does what she can to keep it humming along, while having an astute view of the seamier side of human nature. I love the way her detecting mind works, and how she solves big mysteries by seeing the patterns she’s observed in smaller mysteries.
My preference is for a fic set around/in/after a new case, rather than drawing from a Christie story (but feel free to start in medias res or omit most of the details if you’d like - I’m not suggesting that you have to write me an entirely new Marple novel or anything). If you’d rather set the fic in an existing story, however, that’s okay too. :)
Some ideas in addition to the ones in my signup:
• Outsider POV is one of my favorite writing styles. How does someone who’s not Jane (a detective? A village resident? A relative? A housemaid? A murderer?) observe her habits and method during a murder case?
• Does Jane ever try her hand at writing a mystery? Alternatively, does she read mysteries and point out their flaws?
• Crossovers with other mystery series are great! (Please no Sherlock, however, except perhaps as part of a five-times fic, since he’s not really in the Yuletide Spirit.) Jane and Poirot/Ariadne Oliver, Jane and Harriet/Peter, Jane and Nero Wolfe, Jane and Amelia Peabody, Jane and Phryne Fisher - I would love to read all of these. I do ship Jane/the Dowager Duchess, but am happy to read friendship gen for them as well.
• Case fic is of course always loved. (But I know firsthand how hard it is and by no means expect it or have my heart set on it.)
• An AU which adds a long-term female partner to Jane’s life - perhaps Jane tells her about her suspicions of mysterious happenings in the village? - would be wonderful.
• Jane falling in love - whether as a younger woman or at her canonical advanced age - would be fantastic. I personally would adore femslash, but if you prefer het I would enjoy that too.
• How legendary is Jane in the law enforcement community?
• How about a fic set at Christmas/during the holidays? Especially since familial tensions often do rise during family get-togethers, so somebody getting murdered and Jane being called in is a real possibility.
• Jane and cats.
If none of these prompts speak to you, however, please write me a story that you love. And if something in my general likes inspires a plotbunny, feel free to let that supersede these prompts. I love this fandom and will truly enjoy your fic. ♥
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FANDOM NUMBER THREE:
Amelia Peabody - Elizabeth Peters
Character: Amelia Peabody Emerson
Signup text: Amelia is such a fabulous character. I love her strength and her foibles, her idiosyncracies and her fabulously distinct narrative voice, her love for Emerson and her love for archaelogy. Tell me a story about Amelia! If you already have a plotbunny - or if any of the general likes in my letter inspire one - go for it! I love surprises. :)
A few prompts (more in my letter): I know Amelia didn’t have adventures as a girl, but she was still Amelia - tell me a story that hints at the woman she would later become. Or how about a story about her friendship with Evelyn over the years; five times Amelia rescued Evelyn and one time Evelyn rescued Amelia, maybe? (Five-times fic in general is great.) Or, since I ship Amelia & Emerson like burning, how about a story about the two of them having an adventure? (Either a missing scene from a book or an entirely new adventure.)
Amelia is, quite simply, fantastic, and I will love any story about her.
Although I have read the entire series, my favorite books are the first five (before Nefret comes on the scene), and I would prefer a fic set during that period. But if you love the later books, I will enjoy fics set during that period too! (Perhaps keeping the focus on Amelia rather than Nefret/Ramses, though.)
In addition to the canon ships of Amelia/Emerson and Evelyn/Walter, I also ship Amelia/Evelyn (not in the same fic as Amelia/Emerson, please).
Some ideas in addition to the ones in my signup:
• Outsider POV is one of my favorite writing styles. To take only a couple of examples (feel free to create your own!), I’d love to see Evelyn and/or Walter’s view of Amelia and Emerson’s courtship, one of the Egyptian staff’s impressions of Amelia & Emerson and their archaeological dig, or a child-Ramses narrator telling a story of a childhood adventure with his mother.
• Canon-divergence AU in which Amelia and Evelyn are the ones who fall in love. (Or Amelia and Jane Marple!)
• Jane or Poirot comes to Egypt. How do they and Amelia get on?
• Case fic is of course always loved. (But I know firsthand how hard it is and by no means expect it or have my heart set on it.)
• Does Amelia ever try her hand at writing a mystery? What is her writing style? What kind of characters does she include, and do they bear any resemblance to people in her life? What do Emerson and/or Evelyn think of it?
• Amelia and Emerson. Any rating. Affectionate G-rated romance, super-porny romp, or anything in between.
• How legendary is Amelia in the archaeological community? (Or perhaps a mock essay/historical biography about Amelia written by a modern-day historian!)
• An article in a contemporary ladies’ journal about Amelia, her adventures, her scholarly work, and her unique sense of style.
• THE CATS.
If none of these prompts speak to you, however, please write me a story that you love. And if something in my general likes inspires a plotbunny, feel free to let that supersede these prompts. I love this fandom and will truly enjoy your fic. ♥
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FANDOM NUMBER FOUR:
Damar Series - Robin McKinley
Characters: Harry Crewe
Signup text: Harry! Isn’t she wonderful? I love her journey over the course of the book, her character growth, and her developing relationships with the men and women she meets. Snatched out of her own world, she creates a new life for herself, and oh, wins a war and protects both of her worlds along the way. Tell me a story about Harry! If you already have a plotbunny - or if any of the general likes in my letter inspire one - go for it! I love surprises. :)
A few prompts (more in my letter): How about a five-times fic looking at her different friendships? Or perhaps an AU in which Corlath doesn’t kidnap her; how does her life in Istan unfold differently? (Does she still end up in Damar somehow?) What adventures do she and Corlath, or she and Senay, or she and Mathin, have after the events of the novel? Or perhaps you, like me, ship Harry/Corlath like burning - I’d love to see a shippy and/or porny fic about the two of them.
Harry’s one of the beloved heroes of my childhood, and I’ll love any fic you write about her. :)
Some ideas in addition to the ones in my signup:
• Outsider POV is one of my favorite writing styles. To take only a couple of examples (feel free to create your own!), I’d love to see Mathin’s view of Harry’s training and transformation, Jack’s impressions of the changed Harry and her new role in Damar, or Lady Amelia’s version of her visit when Aerin Amelia is born. Or of course you could use Corlath as your narrator!
• Canon-divergence AU in which Harry and Senay are the ones who fall in love.
• Harry and Corlath, any rating. Affectionate G-rated romance, super-porny romp, or anything in between.
• Does Harry ever travel back Home, whether as a diplomat/emissary for Damar or as a private citizen? Does anyone go with her (Corlath, Jack, Richard, one of her children, etc.)?
• What does she teach her children about her old world (or does she?)
• I love fic about cultural differences. What are the little things that still throw Harry off sometimes, because she’s expecting one thing and gets another?
• Narknon! What does Narknon think of her human’s life, predilections, and annoying tendency to kick her off the bed to socialize with the other human?
If none of these prompts speak to you, however, please write me a story that you love. And if something in my general likes inspires a plotbunny, feel free to let that supersede these prompts. I love this fandom and will truly enjoy your fic. ♥
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FANDOM NUMBER FIVE:
Political RPF - US 21st c.
Characters: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan
Note: I give explicit permission for you to include whichever of my requested characters fit your story. You don’t need to include all three together.
Signup text: My Supreme Court heroines! I respect these three women and their work immensely. Ruth has been my favorite Justice for forever, and Sonia and Elena have quickly joined her in recent years. (Sonia’s fiery dissent in Utah v. Strieff!) Tell me a story about them, and you will make me a happy Yuletider. :)
A few prompts (more in my letter): How about the first time Ruth met Sonia and Elena? Do Sonia and Elena bond as the new women on the court? Do they look up to Ruth, and does she give them any advice? Do the three of them have a secret code or codeword for when the conservative men on the court are being simply too infuriating and/or casually sexist? What do they think of Donald Trump behind closed doors? How might their professional relationship deepen into real friendship?
Like I said in my signup, Ruth is one of my heroines, and I deeply respect Sonia and Elena too. I would love to read any story about them.
Some ideas in addition to the ones in my signup:
• Outsider POV is one of my favorite writing styles. To take only a couple of examples (feel free to create your own!), I’d love to see President Obama’s view of the three Justices, or the impressions of one of Ruth’s clerks as she watched the two new Justices adjusting to life on the Court, or the thoughts of one of the waitresses at their favorite lunchtime spots.
• Canon-divergence AU in which Ruth is Chief Justice! Or in which Barack became a Justice instead of President (perhaps being named by President Hillary?)
• Their relationship as seen through the lens of a particular case’s slow progress through the Court’s system.
• A day in the life of oral arguments.
• What do the three Justices do to relax together?
• While I am primarily interested in gen friendships in this fandom, I am also open to Sonia/Elena shipfic. Tell me how they fell in love over briefs and drafts of opinions and half-drunk cups of coffee!
• I would also be interested in a fic about the aftermath of Obergefell v. Hodges, in which a lesbian Elena or Sonia found themselves unexpectedly overcome by emotion at being a part of this leap forward (while still recognizing how far we still have to go). (Bonus points if one/both of the others knew how much it meant to them.)
• An AU crossover with the West Wing in which the Justices are on the Court during the Santos Administration. (With or without the wonderful Evelyn Baker Lang.)
• Cats. For any or all of the Justices. Maybe they even bond over cats! Maybe Elena’s cat has kittens and Sonia adopts one! Are they named anything judicially related?
If none of these prompts speak to you, however, please write me a story that you love. And if something in my general likes inspires a plotbunny, feel free to let that supersede these prompts. I love this fandom and will truly enjoy your fic. ♥
(One final note: Tart/sarcastic opinions on the current election are welcome, as long as you keep in mind that I’m a) somewhat to the left of Bernie, b) recognize Hillary’s flaws but still respect her and deeply want her to be President, and c) am incredibly worried about Trump winning the election. So whistling in the dark comments are fine, snide remarks about Bill’s wandering penis are fine, but Hillary-bashing or a fic in which Trump won would make me sad. Totally fine to leave out the election entirely if this doesn’t work for you.)
Election Day update, through tears: If we matched on this fandom, don't worry, I will still appreciate your fic. ♥ Please just be kind to Hillary, and me; I'm heartbroken and scared and devastated.
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Hopefully this letter has been helpful! :) If you want more info, feel free to check out my other fandoms for ideas, and/or my past letters (under the exchange letters tag). A lot of my beloved tropes and plotbunnies are panfandom (with variations, of course, for the different beloved characters), and can be stolen for other fandoms.
Thank you again for offering one of my fandoms! ♥ I know I’ll love your fic. Happy creating, and happy Yuletide!