Dear Yule Goat
So, you're writing me a Yuletide fic. Thank you, thank you, thank you, and, may I add, SQUEEEE! I love my obscure fandoms, and just the fact that you're writing in them for me is enough to make me very happy; optional details are very much optional.
General info:
Do Not Wants: No anal sex. No humiliation humor (humiliation kink is fine). No unrelentingly dark fic or outright unhappy endings, though bittersweet is fine. No infidelity (but poly or open relationships are great). No breaking up canon pairings, but non-canon relationships in addition are fine, as is setting something before the start of a canon relationship.
Things I Like: Flirtation. Teasing. Banter. Snark, affectionate or not. Anything involving dance. Slice of life/domesticity/quiet moments. Strong characters having moments of weakness, and being able put down their armor and lean on those closest to them. Family interactions. Good friends being there for each other. Character-driven stories. Strong females. Focus on female characters. Realistic relationships, where people have flaws and not everything's perfect but they work things out anyway. Pairings of where both characters are dominant types and how they make it work. Romances that stress trust, support, equality, and deep friendship. Relationships that overcome a bad beginning to make things work. Friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, and most especially reluctant-allies-to-lovers. Fuller list of favorite tropes and narrative kinks.
I’m a huge fan of het; I’m also a huge fan of gen. F/f is cool, but I’m not as keen on m/m. I love fic of all ratings and focuses: anything from steamy smut to more subtly hot suggestiveness and flirtation to drama and adventure to low-rated sweet romance to low-rated sweet gen would be delightful. (If you happen to go the explicit route, I have more on my smut-specific likes and dislikes on the Yuleporn post.)
I’m always game for AUs, of either the canon-divergence or the elseworlds varieties. Crackfic is fine. Poking canon with a stick is fine. Crossovers are fine, though if you want to do that I ask that they be with another fandom I'm at least familiar with (feel free to poke around my journal or tumblr to see). I love worldbuilding. I have a certain weakness for fluff, so long as it is not too much at the expense of plot. If you prefer angst, I'd appreciate it if you don't go overboard, but I do like stories where they have to earn their happy ending.
Fandom-specific details:
(I wrote more for some of these than others, but that's just because I had an easier time coming up with ideas for some; I would be equally happy with a fic from any of these fandoms. And I'm just tossing out ideas here; feel free to disregard them all if you like.)
Dragonriders of Pern
F’lar, Lessa, Kylara
My main desire in Pern fic this year is something focused on character interaction: banter, politics and mind games, maybe a bit of fluff, I just want to see the ways their personalities bounce off each other. I’m requesting characters that I love for their flaws as much as their strengths; particularly in Dragonflight-era, I see all three of them as manipulative, ethically-challenged disaster humans who are highly competent at achieving their goals but struggle to act like actual people.
I’m not necessarily looking for F’lar, Lessa, and Kylara all in the same fic (though if you have an idea that includes all three I certainly won’t complain); I just want to see interactions between any two of the three.
For F’lar and Lessa, maybe a missing scene from Dragonflight or the interval between Dragonflight and Dragonquest or their lives later in the series (or an AU, or pretty much anything focusing on them). For Lessa and Kylara, anything that explores the degree of similarity in their personalities; either a missing scene from Dragonflight, or something where they learn to see each other as allies rather than rivals (possibly with a side of femmeslash). For F’lar and Kylara, there are any number of canon-divergence possibilities which would result in Kylara being Benden’s Senior Weyrwoman, and I can only imagine the hatesex that would result.
F'lar and Lessa are my all-time OTP; pretty much anything focusing on them would make me ecstatic. (Bonus points for Ramoth and Mnementh being awesome and/or cute. I have an especial fondness for Mnementh’s snarky commentary and unsolicited advice.) Give me fluff. Give me snark and banter. Give me being visionaries or making clever plans to thwart political enemies. Give me Lessa and Mnementh ganging up on F’lar. If gen is more your style, I’m just as interested in fic about them being Weyrleaders as I am in fic that’s focused on them as lovers.
I’m really interested in the way Kylara is written as a foil to Lessa in Dragonflight; they’re two strong-willed women with a lot in common, almost dark mirrors of each other. (I think Kylara’s character had a lot of potential that was ultimately wasted; I’m equally happy to read fic where she’s redeemed or where she’s an antagonist, so long as she’s a more competent and less one-dimensional villain than she is in Dragonquest.) For all that Kylara’s presence looms large in the later sections of Dragonflight, Lessa and Kylara don’t have any on-screen interactions; I think that’s a pity and would love to see some of those missing scenes. I’d also love to see a scenario where they learn to see past their differences and gain more understanding and respect for each other. I’m also amused by how irrationally jealous Lessa gets about Kylara, and would be very interested in fic where that’s caused not by her being possessive of F’lar but by an interest in Kylara that she doesn’t want to acknowledge (or maybe some of both).
For F’lar and Kylara, I would love to see the AU where Kylara becomes Benden's Senior Weyrwoman - maybe Jaxom doesn't survive so Lessa refuses to leave Ruatha and Kylara is the one to Impress Ramoth, or maybe Lessa doesn't make it back from the Oldtime, or maybe you think of some other way this might come about. Does Kylara eventually rise above her self-interest and build a real partnership with F'lar? Does she fail to do so and they despise each other by the end? (Either way, I suspect the getting there would be quite a tumultuous ride, a battle of wills as epic as ever Lessa and F'lar were, and probably would have involved a whole lot of kinky hatesex.)
If none of those possibilities are working for you, I’d also be interested in fic about any of their lives pre-canon. Write me something about Kylara’s adolescence and how she came to have the worldview she did by the time she arrived at Benden, or what her Search was like. Show me F’lar’s weyrling days. Tell me about Lessa's childhood before Fax took over Ruatha.
Dragonriders of Pern is my problematic fave; I wholeheartedly adore it, but I’m also very aware that it has many issues. Feel free to prod at Pernese politics and social norms a bit, but I’d prefer fic that isn’t overwhelmingly salty. I’m always here for fic that makes Pern queerer and more poly than than is shown on-screen.
Feel free to check out my Pern tags on this journal and on Tumblr. I have a meta post on why I love Dragonflight (which is also a bit of a ship manifesto for F’lar and Lessa) and another with thoughts on Kylara.
Kushiel’s Legacy
Phèdre nó Delaunay
Young Phèdre and Night Court world building are my two primary interests here (and I’d be delighted to receive a fic featuring either; you can treat the character request as optional for this request). Smut in this fandom would be very gladly welcomed, though certainly not required.
The early sections of Kushiel’s Dart are one of my favorite parts of the series; I’d love fic set during either Phèdre’s childhood at Cereus House, her training as a courtesan, or the days when she’s making her marque while in Delaunay’s household. Femmeslash hatesex is kind of my crack, so Phèdre/Melisande in any time period would also be delightful. I am endlessly fascinated by the Night Court, and anything involving any of the houses, with or without canon characters involved, would make me incredibly happy.
The motto of Valerian House is "I yield"; their focus is on receiving physical pain and any spark of disobedience is conditioned out of their adepts. Similarly, Mandrake House seems to be focused on the giving of physical pain. While masochism and sadism are perhaps the best known flavors of BDSM, and they certainly make up a large and important part of it, there is so much more to the kink world, and I'd love to see how some of those other components would fit into the Night Court. What place would there be for a submissive who is not a masochist - someone who thrills in being psychologically dominated, but has no great love for pain? What about a bratty submissive, who finds their greatest pleasure in being disobedient until broken - surely there are patrons more interested in that than the meek yielding of Valerian House. What House would a patron go to if their kinks ran to bonds and blindfolds but no more extreme, or if they wished to play out a rape or gangbang fantasy? Does Eglantine House have adepts whose preferred art form is rope?
The Second of Valerian House claims that they would have recognized Phèdre as an anguisette. So what happens in the AU where the Dowayne of Cereus doesn't think of Delaunay and instead goes with her first impulse of messaging the Dowayne of Valerian when Phèdre's fascination with pain is noticed?
Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Hades, Persephone
Literally anything Hades and Persephone; I’ve read a million different retellings and loved them all.
My personal character interpretation tends towards “Hades is a socially awkward introvert and Persephone is the scary one,” but if you have a different interpretation I’d love to see how you imagine them.
I’m interested in any retelling of their story you might think of, whether it be something that fits into the traditional mythology or a modern flower shop AU or IN SPACE; seriously, anything goes. Or slice of life fic, during or after the events recounted in the Homeric Hymn. If you want to stick close to that source, I’m particularly interested in the unseen journey of their relationship from unwilling abduction to the point where Persephone chooses to eat the pomegranate seeds.
Feel free to check out my Hades/Persephone tag on Tumblr.
The Lions of Al-Rassan
Any
Basically anything about Ammar and Jehane would fill me with squee, they are pretty much everything I love in a pairing.
If that's not so much your thing, there are plenty of other stories I'd love to see. Show me something of the Belmontes' courtship or the early days of their marriage. Show me more of the trio having adventures or even just hanging around in Ragosa bantering and having UST. Show me what Jehane and Miranda meeting would have looked like if if had happened in a non-tragic situation. Write me something about Jehane or Miranda being the badass independent women that they are. Fill in some of the time between the end of the main story and the epilogue.
I didn't specify characters because I'm very fond of all the characters nominated and would be very happy to receive a story focusing on any one or combination of them; but please note that I do want a story in this fandom to focus on Jehane, Ammar, Rodrigo, and/or Miranda.
I love how rich and complex the character dynamics in this book are. I love the canon couples, I love the friendships, I love the UST, and I'd love to receive a fic focusing on any of those dynamics. I'm also totally open to OT3 or OT4 fic (but please no infidelity).
Feel free to check out my Al-Rassan tag on this journal.
Resources if you still want to know more after the length of this letter:
If you want to stalk me, I’m calenlily pretty much everywhere online. I do most of my fannish rambling on Tumblr these days. This journal is mostly dead, but feel free to poke around it for my previous Yuletide letters (all under the yuletide tag) and older fannish ramblings.
Feel free to browse my writing and my bookmarks on AO3.