Dear Yuletide Writer 2025
Oct. 23rd, 2025 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingHi, and thank you in advance for writing a story for me! I'm pretty easy to please -- unless you write a context-free sex scene, I'll be thrilled just to get a fic in one of the fandoms I asked for. *grin* But I realize that's not terribly helpful, so here's the (very!) long version. (I am sorry for the tl;dr, but I like to talk about things I love and I figure more details are better than fewer.)
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General Information:
1. First, while you cannot go wrong by writing gen for me, that is not a requirement. I will also read and enjoy pretty much anything when it comes to ships -- het, slash, femslash, threesomes, poly, whatever -- as long as you put in a bit of character development so the relationships don't seem to come out of nowhere. I tend to skim past detailed sex scenes, though, so your efforts are best spent in other directions.
2. I read all kinds of genres and moods, from schmoopy fluff to angsty deathfic, but my favorite endings are bittersweet (leaning toward happy) and a little complicated.
3. If I requested worldbuilding, I meant it. I fall in love with worlds and themes as much as I fall in love with characters, if not more. On a related note, I prefer fic compatible with the worlds and situations that canon presents. AUs of a "what if person X made choice A instead of choice B at moment Y" type are lovely, but high school or coffee shop AUs are not what I'm looking for.
4. Stuff I really, really like: This can be boiled down to, 'Please treat characters as intelligent people who have understandable motives for their actions, please take the worlds seriously as settings, and please remember that sex and romance are not all there is to life. Also, ethics, metaphysics, and worldbuilding are dead cool.'
The long version: I like character development; world-building; explanation of plot holes in canon; subtle humor; a sense of wonder; writing that evokes an emotional reaction as well as telling a story; close relationships that don't necessarily involve sex (i.e., friendship, families, teachers and students, coworkers, traveling companions, soldiers in the same cause, etc.); the consequences of actions and choices; a sense of place and time; dialogue that conveys character as well as plot information; politics; ethics; people being intelligent even if they make bad choices; people trying to do the right thing even if they make bad choices; conflict because of opposing goals that both have points in their favor; a lack of simple solutions; female characters treated as people instead of plot devices; male characters treated as people instead of plot devices; ideas that make me stop and think; the nature of memory; the nature of truth; possession; soul-searching; non-gratuitous torture (...I have a kink, shut up); war and battles; hand-to-hand fighting; swordfights; peace and diplomacy; magic that's properly magical and strange or magic that's explained as a science (but not both at once); books and reading; people exploring a new country/world/city; linguistics and languages; early Industrial Revolution technology (or whatever technology is suitable to the milieu); people using logic to investigate a problem; and fires, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
5. Stuff I'm not so keen on:
*obvious authorial contempt for characters (please try to remember that even horrible people have motives that make sense to them)
*sex or romantic love with no in-story justification (unless the people in question are already a canon couple)
*gratuitous angst/torture/rape (i.e., bad stuff that comes out of nowhere and is not necessary to make the plot or character arc work)
*idiot plots (i.e., problems that could be solved in five minutes if the characters asked one or two obvious questions)
*extended pining (just not my trope)
*cheating on one's partners (also just not my trope)
Okay. On to specific fandoms!
---------------
Summer in Orcus
(This is standalone fantasy novel by Ursula Vernon, writing under her T. Kingfisher pen name. It's a portal fantasy in which a girl is sent to another world by Baba Yaga on a quest to find her heart's desire, and gets caught up in important events along the way. If you are stuck on my other fandoms, this one should be easy to find and quick to read!)
Characters: Summer, Worldbuilding, The Weasel, Baba Yaga
Request: I would like a story wherein Summer either returns to Orcus or finds her way into some other world, please! I am particularly interested in worldbuilding, whether that's exploring new corners or history of Orcus, or exploring the nature of travel between worlds. I am assuming the weasel stayed with Summer after she returned home and would naturally accompany her on any new adventures, but that's not strictly necessary. I have included Baba Yaga mostly as a potential avenue for travel between worlds, but also because her interactions with Summer are a delight and I would love to see them meet again when Summer is a bit more confident in herself (or a bit more awkward as an adolescent or adult).
Additional Thoughts: Okay I couldn't put this bit in the actual prompt because it's a crossover, but. Summer goes to Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children. Think about it. Perhaps write about it...? :)
Anyway my main thought is that Summer clearly learned and grew during her time in Orcus, but her relationship with her mother is still deeply screwed up (she has been simultaneously smothered and parentified to hell and back) and perhaps she can have another magical field trip to begin untangling some of that. You know. As a treat. And with a snarky weasel along for commentary, of course.
---------------
The Steerswoman Series
(This is a series of science-fantasy books by Rosemary Kirstein. It's been unfinished for decades -- the final two books have not been written -- but the four extant volumes have new digital editions so you can probably find them pretty easily.)
Characters: Rowan, Bel, Zenna, Worldbuilding
Request: What I find most fascinating about this series is the worldbuilding -- not so much the way that it initially looks like fantasy but turns out to be science fiction (that part was fairly obvious early on), but the way that the steerswomen have reinvented the scientific method yet function a bit like a secular humanist religious order (and also are mostly women); the way that the descendants of the "crew" have hoarded advanced technology to themselves and don't seem to see the majority of the world's population as human; the way the Outskirters' lifestyle was clearly designed with the intent of terraforming the world but also contains the inherent seeds of conflict once that niche is done; the question of whether the original settlers knew the demons were intelligent and if so, whether they cared or whether they even had the option of leaving and trying to settle a different planet; the slow ongoing ecological disaster that the spill of earth-like saltwater into the native sea is clearly causing; the resignation the people of the Inner Lands have toward the wizards and their cruelties until Rowan and Bel and Will and their friends and associates begin to kindle sparks of hope; and so on and so forth.
Honestly what I really want is more of the world. I named three characters I find most interesting, but if you find a really cool worldbuilding idea to explore via someone else, you 100% have my permission to go for it!
Additional Thoughts: ...I think I said everything important in the prompt? But, uh. Hmm. Okay, so Rowan/Bel. I am totally down with that ship! I am also totally down with them remaining platonic friends and life partners. But if you do go the shippy route, please don't make that the focus of your story. The focus should be on worldbuilding and exploration and cultural exchange and learning and transmitting knowledge and stuff.
---------------
The Darkangel Trilogy
(This is a fantasy/sci-fi trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce, which would probably be classed as YA if written today. The component books are The Darkangel, A Gathering of Gargoyles, and The Pearl of the Soul of the World. They're quick reads but I'm not sure how easily available they are at the moment.)
Characters: Worldbuilding, Syllva, Eryka, Oriencor
Request: Listen, I ask for Darkangel fic almost every year I participate in Yuletide, and that is because I will genuinely love anything you write for me in this fandom. However! As you can perhaps tell from my prompts, I have three basic areas of interest this year.
1. Background on Syllva and Eryka before canon happened to them. What was it like to grow up as sisters destined to rules Isternes? Did Eryka go merchanting to other places before she crossed the Sea of Dust? How did Syllva even meet the king of Avaric in the first place? And so on. (Relatedly, tell me about Isternes in the years before the drought reached its canon extent!)
2. Oriencor is a horrible awful person, but also a fascinating one, and I am particularly interested in what her choice to characterize her relationship with the icari as mother-son (but also sexual) says about her perception of her relationship with Ravenna. If you're up for something dark, maybe explore that a little?
3. Seriously just go hog-wild with worldbuilding. Pierce's world is huge and beautiful and strange -- pick a corner and dive in!
Additional Thoughts: This series has been one of my favorites since I was quite young, and I love it madly and passionately because of everything it doesn't do. I mean, I love what it does do as well -- the utterly matter-of-fact fairytale atmosphere and the equally matter-of-fact way Pierce melds science fiction into that framework, the slow reveal of the post-apocalyptic elements, the lush descriptive language, the way Aeriel's power of heart is literalized through her mastery of the golden spindle, etc. -- but the characters and their world would not stick in my mind half as strongly if Pierce hadn't written what needed to happen instead of what narrative structures have trained us to expect will happen when you make a love story as central as Aeriel and Irrylath are.
Also the story hinges entirely on women's choices and women's relationships, and lets women be strong and central characters without forcing them into the Strong Female Character template. (Erin and Sabr come closest, and even they don't really fit into that box.) Women get to be heroes and villains and people just trying to go about their lives while occasionally getting swept up by grand events. I love that.
---------------
Saga of the Skolian Empire
(This is a long-running series of novels and short stories by Catherine Asaro that mixes military sf, hard sf, space opera, and romance. Also telepathy, because why not! It's a very fun and tropey canon, but not one that can be picked up in a day.)
Characters: Rocalisa Qox-Skolia, Worldbuilding
Request: This request is both very specific and very open-ended. Here is the specific part: Lisi leaves Prism as a young adult (use whatever plot justification works best for you), and encounters the giant tangle of post-Radiance War interstellar politics and its ramifications for her family. Here is the open-ended part: literally everything else.
I admit that I would love you forever if you can get Lisi to encounter any of her relatives either in person or via the psiberweb, but that is not strictly necessary. Other things that would be received with great joy but which are not requirements include some kind of action/adventure plot and/or a romance. If that romance happened to be lesbian and/or poly, I would be even more thrilled -- canon is sadly short on lesbians, though we did get Althor being both bi and poly -- but again, that is a bonus rather than a demand.
If that prompt is not working for you, here are some other ideas for Lisi-centric stories. Tell me about her growing up on Prism, or about returning to Prism to rebuild. Tell me about her years living on Earth with Seth: did she make friends; did she have a cute teenage romance; how hard was it to keep all the necessary secrets; did she adopt any pieces of Earth culture like Jai adopted Catholicism; etc. Just, tell me something about Lisi!
For this prompt, a focus on romance is obviously fine, though I would appreciate if you also put equal emphasis on at least one of the following: family, secrets, or action/adventure.
Additional Thoughts: Back in 2017, I posted some thoughts about this series. Namely, what really gets me is the family stuff, and the secrets, and the intersection of those secrets with dicey interstellar politics, leading to the situation where nobody can ever learn the truth about Jai's heritage without pulling everything down around everyone. Which means Lisi's very existence is a time bomb, if and when she ever ventures off Prism. (This is also true for Vitar and del-Kelric, obviously, but I'm not asking for them as my main character.)
I think all the Qox-Skolia children grew up with an interesting mix of innocence/naivety and gut-level knowledge of how terrible the universe can be (this will happen when you're raised in peaceful isolation, but your parents are telepaths who've been through some deep shit), and I'd really like to see how that plays out in someone other than Jai (since he gets plenty of focus as a major protagonist in canon). I'd also like to see how the matriarchal backdrop of the Skolian Empire plays out for a female protagonist who isn't coming from a (perceived) background of privilege like Soz, Dehya, and Roca (or a military background like Major Bhaajan) since obviously Lisi can't tell people about her heritage and would have to make her journey incognito.
...
Okay, and I just really, really want to see a woman doing a variation of Kelric's Ascendant Sun plot, only without the sexual objectification. *hands* I am a simple woman. I have simple needs. And in this particular case, they boil down to family, secrets, and bantering romances while on the run from space pirates or some convenient equivalent. (Or, you know, family stuff on Prism, or romance and secrets on Earth, or whatever, so long as Lisi's choices drive the story.)
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And that is that. Thank you again, and happy writing!
---------------
General Information:
1. First, while you cannot go wrong by writing gen for me, that is not a requirement. I will also read and enjoy pretty much anything when it comes to ships -- het, slash, femslash, threesomes, poly, whatever -- as long as you put in a bit of character development so the relationships don't seem to come out of nowhere. I tend to skim past detailed sex scenes, though, so your efforts are best spent in other directions.
2. I read all kinds of genres and moods, from schmoopy fluff to angsty deathfic, but my favorite endings are bittersweet (leaning toward happy) and a little complicated.
3. If I requested worldbuilding, I meant it. I fall in love with worlds and themes as much as I fall in love with characters, if not more. On a related note, I prefer fic compatible with the worlds and situations that canon presents. AUs of a "what if person X made choice A instead of choice B at moment Y" type are lovely, but high school or coffee shop AUs are not what I'm looking for.
4. Stuff I really, really like: This can be boiled down to, 'Please treat characters as intelligent people who have understandable motives for their actions, please take the worlds seriously as settings, and please remember that sex and romance are not all there is to life. Also, ethics, metaphysics, and worldbuilding are dead cool.'
The long version: I like character development; world-building; explanation of plot holes in canon; subtle humor; a sense of wonder; writing that evokes an emotional reaction as well as telling a story; close relationships that don't necessarily involve sex (i.e., friendship, families, teachers and students, coworkers, traveling companions, soldiers in the same cause, etc.); the consequences of actions and choices; a sense of place and time; dialogue that conveys character as well as plot information; politics; ethics; people being intelligent even if they make bad choices; people trying to do the right thing even if they make bad choices; conflict because of opposing goals that both have points in their favor; a lack of simple solutions; female characters treated as people instead of plot devices; male characters treated as people instead of plot devices; ideas that make me stop and think; the nature of memory; the nature of truth; possession; soul-searching; non-gratuitous torture (...I have a kink, shut up); war and battles; hand-to-hand fighting; swordfights; peace and diplomacy; magic that's properly magical and strange or magic that's explained as a science (but not both at once); books and reading; people exploring a new country/world/city; linguistics and languages; early Industrial Revolution technology (or whatever technology is suitable to the milieu); people using logic to investigate a problem; and fires, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
5. Stuff I'm not so keen on:
*obvious authorial contempt for characters (please try to remember that even horrible people have motives that make sense to them)
*sex or romantic love with no in-story justification (unless the people in question are already a canon couple)
*gratuitous angst/torture/rape (i.e., bad stuff that comes out of nowhere and is not necessary to make the plot or character arc work)
*idiot plots (i.e., problems that could be solved in five minutes if the characters asked one or two obvious questions)
*extended pining (just not my trope)
*cheating on one's partners (also just not my trope)
Okay. On to specific fandoms!
---------------
Summer in Orcus
(This is standalone fantasy novel by Ursula Vernon, writing under her T. Kingfisher pen name. It's a portal fantasy in which a girl is sent to another world by Baba Yaga on a quest to find her heart's desire, and gets caught up in important events along the way. If you are stuck on my other fandoms, this one should be easy to find and quick to read!)
Characters: Summer, Worldbuilding, The Weasel, Baba Yaga
Request: I would like a story wherein Summer either returns to Orcus or finds her way into some other world, please! I am particularly interested in worldbuilding, whether that's exploring new corners or history of Orcus, or exploring the nature of travel between worlds. I am assuming the weasel stayed with Summer after she returned home and would naturally accompany her on any new adventures, but that's not strictly necessary. I have included Baba Yaga mostly as a potential avenue for travel between worlds, but also because her interactions with Summer are a delight and I would love to see them meet again when Summer is a bit more confident in herself (or a bit more awkward as an adolescent or adult).
Additional Thoughts: Okay I couldn't put this bit in the actual prompt because it's a crossover, but. Summer goes to Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children. Think about it. Perhaps write about it...? :)
Anyway my main thought is that Summer clearly learned and grew during her time in Orcus, but her relationship with her mother is still deeply screwed up (she has been simultaneously smothered and parentified to hell and back) and perhaps she can have another magical field trip to begin untangling some of that. You know. As a treat. And with a snarky weasel along for commentary, of course.
---------------
The Steerswoman Series
(This is a series of science-fantasy books by Rosemary Kirstein. It's been unfinished for decades -- the final two books have not been written -- but the four extant volumes have new digital editions so you can probably find them pretty easily.)
Characters: Rowan, Bel, Zenna, Worldbuilding
Request: What I find most fascinating about this series is the worldbuilding -- not so much the way that it initially looks like fantasy but turns out to be science fiction (that part was fairly obvious early on), but the way that the steerswomen have reinvented the scientific method yet function a bit like a secular humanist religious order (and also are mostly women); the way that the descendants of the "crew" have hoarded advanced technology to themselves and don't seem to see the majority of the world's population as human; the way the Outskirters' lifestyle was clearly designed with the intent of terraforming the world but also contains the inherent seeds of conflict once that niche is done; the question of whether the original settlers knew the demons were intelligent and if so, whether they cared or whether they even had the option of leaving and trying to settle a different planet; the slow ongoing ecological disaster that the spill of earth-like saltwater into the native sea is clearly causing; the resignation the people of the Inner Lands have toward the wizards and their cruelties until Rowan and Bel and Will and their friends and associates begin to kindle sparks of hope; and so on and so forth.
Honestly what I really want is more of the world. I named three characters I find most interesting, but if you find a really cool worldbuilding idea to explore via someone else, you 100% have my permission to go for it!
Additional Thoughts: ...I think I said everything important in the prompt? But, uh. Hmm. Okay, so Rowan/Bel. I am totally down with that ship! I am also totally down with them remaining platonic friends and life partners. But if you do go the shippy route, please don't make that the focus of your story. The focus should be on worldbuilding and exploration and cultural exchange and learning and transmitting knowledge and stuff.
---------------
The Darkangel Trilogy
(This is a fantasy/sci-fi trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce, which would probably be classed as YA if written today. The component books are The Darkangel, A Gathering of Gargoyles, and The Pearl of the Soul of the World. They're quick reads but I'm not sure how easily available they are at the moment.)
Characters: Worldbuilding, Syllva, Eryka, Oriencor
Request: Listen, I ask for Darkangel fic almost every year I participate in Yuletide, and that is because I will genuinely love anything you write for me in this fandom. However! As you can perhaps tell from my prompts, I have three basic areas of interest this year.
1. Background on Syllva and Eryka before canon happened to them. What was it like to grow up as sisters destined to rules Isternes? Did Eryka go merchanting to other places before she crossed the Sea of Dust? How did Syllva even meet the king of Avaric in the first place? And so on. (Relatedly, tell me about Isternes in the years before the drought reached its canon extent!)
2. Oriencor is a horrible awful person, but also a fascinating one, and I am particularly interested in what her choice to characterize her relationship with the icari as mother-son (but also sexual) says about her perception of her relationship with Ravenna. If you're up for something dark, maybe explore that a little?
3. Seriously just go hog-wild with worldbuilding. Pierce's world is huge and beautiful and strange -- pick a corner and dive in!
Additional Thoughts: This series has been one of my favorites since I was quite young, and I love it madly and passionately because of everything it doesn't do. I mean, I love what it does do as well -- the utterly matter-of-fact fairytale atmosphere and the equally matter-of-fact way Pierce melds science fiction into that framework, the slow reveal of the post-apocalyptic elements, the lush descriptive language, the way Aeriel's power of heart is literalized through her mastery of the golden spindle, etc. -- but the characters and their world would not stick in my mind half as strongly if Pierce hadn't written what needed to happen instead of what narrative structures have trained us to expect will happen when you make a love story as central as Aeriel and Irrylath are.
Also the story hinges entirely on women's choices and women's relationships, and lets women be strong and central characters without forcing them into the Strong Female Character template. (Erin and Sabr come closest, and even they don't really fit into that box.) Women get to be heroes and villains and people just trying to go about their lives while occasionally getting swept up by grand events. I love that.
---------------
Saga of the Skolian Empire
(This is a long-running series of novels and short stories by Catherine Asaro that mixes military sf, hard sf, space opera, and romance. Also telepathy, because why not! It's a very fun and tropey canon, but not one that can be picked up in a day.)
Characters: Rocalisa Qox-Skolia, Worldbuilding
Request: This request is both very specific and very open-ended. Here is the specific part: Lisi leaves Prism as a young adult (use whatever plot justification works best for you), and encounters the giant tangle of post-Radiance War interstellar politics and its ramifications for her family. Here is the open-ended part: literally everything else.
I admit that I would love you forever if you can get Lisi to encounter any of her relatives either in person or via the psiberweb, but that is not strictly necessary. Other things that would be received with great joy but which are not requirements include some kind of action/adventure plot and/or a romance. If that romance happened to be lesbian and/or poly, I would be even more thrilled -- canon is sadly short on lesbians, though we did get Althor being both bi and poly -- but again, that is a bonus rather than a demand.
If that prompt is not working for you, here are some other ideas for Lisi-centric stories. Tell me about her growing up on Prism, or about returning to Prism to rebuild. Tell me about her years living on Earth with Seth: did she make friends; did she have a cute teenage romance; how hard was it to keep all the necessary secrets; did she adopt any pieces of Earth culture like Jai adopted Catholicism; etc. Just, tell me something about Lisi!
For this prompt, a focus on romance is obviously fine, though I would appreciate if you also put equal emphasis on at least one of the following: family, secrets, or action/adventure.
Additional Thoughts: Back in 2017, I posted some thoughts about this series. Namely, what really gets me is the family stuff, and the secrets, and the intersection of those secrets with dicey interstellar politics, leading to the situation where nobody can ever learn the truth about Jai's heritage without pulling everything down around everyone. Which means Lisi's very existence is a time bomb, if and when she ever ventures off Prism. (This is also true for Vitar and del-Kelric, obviously, but I'm not asking for them as my main character.)
I think all the Qox-Skolia children grew up with an interesting mix of innocence/naivety and gut-level knowledge of how terrible the universe can be (this will happen when you're raised in peaceful isolation, but your parents are telepaths who've been through some deep shit), and I'd really like to see how that plays out in someone other than Jai (since he gets plenty of focus as a major protagonist in canon). I'd also like to see how the matriarchal backdrop of the Skolian Empire plays out for a female protagonist who isn't coming from a (perceived) background of privilege like Soz, Dehya, and Roca (or a military background like Major Bhaajan) since obviously Lisi can't tell people about her heritage and would have to make her journey incognito.
...
Okay, and I just really, really want to see a woman doing a variation of Kelric's Ascendant Sun plot, only without the sexual objectification. *hands* I am a simple woman. I have simple needs. And in this particular case, they boil down to family, secrets, and bantering romances while on the run from space pirates or some convenient equivalent. (Or, you know, family stuff on Prism, or romance and secrets on Earth, or whatever, so long as Lisi's choices drive the story.)
---------------
And that is that. Thank you again, and happy writing!
