Yuletide Dear Author Letter

[somethingdarker]

I write a lot of darkfic, but that’s not necessarily my go-to as a reader. I’m okay with darker themes in the Chronicles of Amber, The Hollow, or Sky High

I’m pairing agnostic in all fandoms and good with gen, het, poly (in various configurations), m/m, f/f.

For some of my requests this year, however, I strongly prefer gen and a G or T rating. I’ve said as much in the signup details for those fandoms. I find explicit underage sex feel really, really squicky. I’m okay with references to teenagers making out with other teenagers or wanting to, but I’d rather not see anything more than hugs/kisses. Anyone younger than that, please just don’t.

Background/referenced relationships, canonical or otherwise, existing in a gen story when they’re not the point of things is still gen enough for me. If there is sex, I’m a lot more interested in character development through sex than I am in sex for its own sake.

Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of unicorns, zombies, vampires, or were-creatures. This doesn’t rise to a DNW level, especially if you’re running counter to usual narrative tropes (put any or all of these into the Hamster Princess series! Please!) or if they’re canonical (Chronicles of Amber) or potentially in genre (The Hollow).

I like character backstory, five things stories (or four or six things. However many works out). I enjoy canon divergent AUs but am seldom interested in other types of AU. I really enjoy characters being ridiculously competent and particularly like ridiculously competent characters crossing genres to Fix All the Problems. I like humor. I like crossovers, generally, but am not a huge fan of fusions.

I prefer hopeful endings to bleak ones and like to see characters maintaining some resilience.

Time travel is not a completely bulletproof trope for me, but it’s about as near as I come, particularly if it’s a fix-it attempt.

I’m fine with first or third person POV. Second person is a harder sell for me as a reader, but I’m okay with it if you’ve got a story that really wants it. I’m also fine with past or present tense and willing to be convinced on any other tense (I’m more than a little dubious about how well a fic written in future tense would work because English kind of resists that).

I’m going to be thrilled to get a gift. Write something that you’ll enjoy, and let that come through, please, so that we can share a bit of happiness over the process.


Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny (Any: Caine, Corwin, Deirdre, Fiona, Flora, Julian)

When I write for Amber, I tend to write more for the Merlin books because I see more places to fit stories there than in the Corwin books, but overall, I enjoy the Corwin books more. I consider them more coherent in terms of characterization and world building.

This is one of the very few canons in which I’m okay with incest. The Amber characters don’t seem like normal humans, culturally or emotionally, and, well, incestuous desires are canonical, and Merlin/Coral doesn’t seem to upset anyone on family connection grounds.

I like the complicated relationships that these characters have with each other and the sense of depth of time behind them. I’m curious about the gaps in the background world building. Pre-canon, missing scenes, alternate points of view on canon events, canon divergence, post-canon, it’s all good.

I would prefer seeing canonical characters interacting with each other rather than a single canonical character interacting with entirely with OCs, but I’d be interested in knowing more about Arden, Rebma, or parts of the Courts of Chaos through the eyes of one (or more) of these characters even if it means them only interacting with OCs.

I can see any of these characters as protagonist or antagonist. Corwin’s narration doesn’t make any of them seem like good people. Merlin seems to think they are, but Merlin is not… entirely perceptive. I don’t have strong headcanons about who is good or right or the most interesting here. I have certain biases when I write, but those aren’t the only versions of the characters that work for me. There are a lot of things that Corwin and Merlin don’t observe or even hear about, and both of them are likely to be wrong (or deliberately lying) about some things.

I usually write shapeshifters as genderfluid, but that’s because I find it an interesting thing to explore rather than because I think it’s the only possible interpretation. If the idea appeals to you, go for it. If it’s doesn’t, I won’t be bothered. Zelazny very definitely wrote them gendered.

I’m open to other canonical characters here, including those who only appear in the second series. I’d be interested in any of the nominated characters interacting with Oberon or with one (or more) of his wives or with unnominated siblings, etc. I’m particularly interested in insights regarding the female characters-- even if the female characters aren’t in the story you write-- since Corwin kind of dismissed them out of hand.

I’ve played a lot of Amber Diceless. If you want to use those rules to explain how things like the Pattern work, I’ll be fine with that. I’ll also be perfectly content if you don’t.

Oberon as a terrible, terrible person is kind of bedrock to my interpretations of canon, but if you don’t see him that way, I’m open to being convinced otherwise. It just may be kind of a hard sell.

I’m okay with canonical levels of these characters doing terrible things to each other or to OCs, with or without consequences. I’d prefer not to have them doing terrible things as the point of the story, though. I’d like character development or world building or political machinations or something.

DNW: Child harm, harm to Vialle, mundane AU, gore, graphic violence, underage sex, completely hopeless or tragic ending, cancer, drowning or risk of drowning, A/B/O, soulbonds, PWP


Hamster Princess Series - Ursula Vernon (Harriet Hamsterbone)

I’d be happy to see the other nominated characters appear and would welcome other canonical characters if they fit with whatever Harriet is doing. I just really want to see more of Harriet.

I feel that Harriet is entirely anti-angst, and I’d very much prefer to keep that aspect of canon. I like the way that canon twists fairy tales by focusing on the bits that are logically and/or ethically broken and addressing how they can be fixed. I don’t need canon levels of humor. I’d be intimidated to try writing in the canon style, so if you’d rather not, I quite understand and will enjoy it. If you can pull off something like canon, that would be spectacular, too.

I don’t have any particular fairy tales in mind here. Please just give me an author’s note telling me what you’ve used (if you use one at all) so that I can look it up and know what you’re riffing on. I’d be open to seeing these characters interact with non-fairy tale canons but don’t have any specific ideas in that direction. Just let Harriet and her friends implement common sense solutions to demolish angsty problems.

I’m okay with canonical levels of violence, but I’d prefer not to go beyond that. This is the one canon in which I wouldn’t vehemently object to soulbonds, but I’d only want them if Harriet views them the same way she does fairy godmothers.

DNW: Harm to requested characters, sex/sexual situations, unhappy ending, angst, cancer, drowning or risk of drowning, darkfic, A/B/O, M rating, E rating


The Hollow (Cartoon) (Any: Death, Adam, Kai, Mira, Reeve, Skeet, Vanessa, The Weird Guy)

I prefer to assume that the ending of the first season wasn’t the ending of the adventure. That is, I’m not thinking that our heroes necessarily escaped back to the real world or that, if they did, they find the world mundane and unchanged. The last episode seems to me to be open ended in that way-- Adam, Kai, and Mira don’t confirm having their memories back, and there’s that flash of electric green in Vanessa’s eyes.

I’d be interested in knowing how Vanessa, Reeve, and Skeet experienced the early parts of the game, before they encountered Adam, Kai, and Mira. Were those three in the game world longer than the protagonist trio? They seemed so very certain that only one team could win/escape.

If it wasn’t really a game, then why was it happening and who were the ‘players’? Were the other characters real in any sense? The Weird Guy comes across as a Trickster type. Is he pulling the strings over all or does he just work there?

Did the players know each other before the game began? I like that no romantic pairings happened within the protagonist team.

If it was a game, do they ever play some other VR game together? If you want to go this direction, I’d be fine with a crossover or with something you invent from whole cloth. Or maybe the program running the game found its way out via Vanessa, and that explains the green flash in her eye at the end? What would happen as a result?

I kept expecting the protagonist trio to face repercussions for leaving the antagonist trio behind. I understood why they did, why they had to, but it seemed oddly without consequences.

Whether the whole thing was a game or not, what was the deal with Death? I keep stumbling over the idea that Death was afraid of his horse dying. I keep trying to find a Watsonian explanation, but it puzzles me.

Anything else you come up with is likely to be welcome.

DNW: Romance between members of the protagonist trio (Kai, Adam, Mira) in any combination, Explicit underage sex, Permanent harm/trauma to requested characters, incest, cancer, child harm, mundane setting, drowning or risk of drowning, cancer, soulbonds, A/B/O, E rating


Little Lunch (Australian TV) (Any: Debra-Jo, Melanie, Mrs. Gonsha, Tamara)
I’m fine with any of the named canonical characters appearing in the story (including the twins or Mr. Haliotis). I nominated this set because the girls have more complicated social interactions with each other in the show than the boys do and because Mrs. Gonsha potentially has a different perspective on whatever’s going on.

For this fandom, I’m mostly interested in something with the feel of canon in terms of stakes. I don’t want to worry that anyone’s actually going to get hurt. I would prefer not to have the kids aged up or to have any sexual content that goes further than kiss-chasey. I like the interpersonal dynamics and would prefer seeing the named, canonical characters interact with each other rather than with OCs.

I wouldn’t mind these characters crossing over into a different canon or visiting a secondary world you invent or going back in time or some such as long as the kids come through okay and still have their canon backstories and relationships. I’d also really enjoy something that’s like canon, just a small playground vignette.

DNW: Sexual situations/content, child harm, incest, detailed violence, lasting harm to the canonical characters, unhappy or darkly ambiguous ending, cancer, drowning or risk of drowning, darkfic, M rating, E rating


Sky High (2005) (Any: Barron Battle, Gwen Grayson, Layla Williams, Warren Peace, Warren Peace’s Mom, Will Stronghold)

I’ve written a lot of darkfic for this canon, but that doesn’t mean that that’s all that I like for the characters and setting. It’s just what I end up writing each time I try. If you want to write dark stuff, that’s fine, but I will enjoy fluff a great deal, too, or anything in between. I welcome riffs on ideas I’ve written if that’s your jam, but I’ll also happily read things that go places I never thought of or that take canon at face value as four colored fun. Give me a bit of whatever you love about the canon.

For romance and sex, I’m pairing agnostic. Pair whoever you want, including poly groupings, as long as it’s not Warren with one (or both) of his parents. I’m good with no pairings at all, too. Please, no underage explicit sex.

I’m curious about how the world of Sky High actually works. My assumptions tend toward it being dystopic, but I won’t mind if you take it in a different direction. If you want to go in a worldbuilding direction, I don’t mind OCs and/or not having any of the nominated characters appear.

I enjoy canon divergent AUs, and I’m curious about backstory in terms of things like how much Gwen remembers about being Sue (or even something from when she was since that’s a huge gap in canon) or how Warren’s parents became involved with each other, things in that vein. (Maybe an AU in which Barron Battle/Sue Tenney/Warren’s Mom was a thing? That might change a lot of things.) I wonder about the future, too, both during the rest of Will, Warren, and Layla’s time in high school and after. I don’t have any specific ideas for the three of them because they could go anywhere and still be interesting.

Have fun and write what appeals to you!

DNW: Bashing Will or Warren or Layla, details of Gwen’s relationship with Stitches*, incest, explicit underage (under 18) sex, detailed gore, mundane AUs, child harm, Marvel crossover, DC crossover, cancer, drowning or risk of drowning, soulbonds, A/B/O

*I realize that this may limit what you can write about Gwen. I am very interested in her, and I don’t mind references to Stitches raising her and how that motivates her. I just don’t want details because I don’t see a way for that relationship not to involve abusive levels of manipulation. Detailed discussion has an uncomfortable potential to hit my DNW for child harm.


The Witch Family - Eleanor Estes (Any: Lurie, Amy, Clarissa, Little Witch Girl | Hannah)

This is a book that I read over and over and over as a child. I completely missed the implication that the Witch Family might be imaginary and would prefer to have them treated as real. I got a story for this canon one year, and I quite enjoyed it. I just feel like there ought to be more stories for a book this dear to me.

I was always particularly fond of the Witches intersecting with the more mundane world on Halloween and for the birthday party and of everything about the Witch school. I liked the Little Witch Girl’s friendship with the mermaids. If the Witches aren’t imaginary, how does the Banquishment work? What gives Amy and Clarissa so much power

I’m open to world building here, including OCs and not using the nominated characters. I like Old Witch and the mermaids and Malachi and the rabbits and would welcome them, too. I have a phobia about deep water and drowning, so please avoid anything going that direction if you include the mermaids.

DNW: Explicit sex/sexual situations, child harm, death, incest, mundane AU, violence beyond canon levels, unhappy ending, drowning or risk of drowning, cancer, soulbonds, A/B/O, darkfic, M rating, E rating