Dear Yuletide Writer 2015

[withinadream]

Thank you for writing for me! I’m within_a_dream on AO3, and withinadream27 on Tumblr. I’ve also got a letters tag on my Dreamwidth if you’d like to take a look at my past requests. (Also, I promise that length and order of requests has nothing to do with what I’d prefer to receive! I’ve just had more time to think about prompts for some of my requested canons.)

My only squick is detailed descriptions of pregnancy or childbirth. Mentions of a character being pregnant are fine, but please don’t dwell on their appearance, or the side effects of pregnancy. (I’ve got a fandom or two that have a fair amount of focus on pregnancy—I’ll include details/exceptions in those specific sections.)

I love both gen and pretty much all ship configurations (any combination of genders, and both two-people and poly relationships). I'm especially fond of historical characters developing poly relationships and feeling conflicted about it.

General tropes I like: hurt-comfort, 5 times or 5+1 fics, sexuality angst for historical fandoms, babysitting/Accidental Baby Acquisition, supernatural AUs (ghosts, zombie apocalypses, etc.)

Shippy stuff and kinks I like: sex pollen, pretty much anything under the BDSM umbrella (with a preference towards male sub and/or femdom, although if you’d prefer M/f I’ll read that as well!), rough sex, characters in historical fandoms accidentally stumbling into kinks.

The Shamer Chronicles—Lene Kaaberbol

Characters requested: Davin Tonerre, Nicodemus Ravens, Dina Tonerre

I’ve only requested a few of the nominated characters, but feel free to include (or even focus on) any of the others. Seriously, I’ve wanted fic for this fandom since I was ten, and there’s so little out there—you could write me a thousand words of the dragons gangbanging Drakan and I would still love you forever. In addition, you don’t need to include everyone I’ve requested in your gift.

I read the English translations, and I haven’t seen the film or the musical. If you read a version with different names, feel free to use the character names you’re most comfortable with!

If you haven’t read the series: The Shamer Chronicles is a 4-book YA series (at least, the YA section is where my library shelved it) focusing on Dina Tonerre, who’s inherited a mystical power from her mother. She can look into anyone’s eyes and make them feel ashamed of the wrongs they’ve committed. The series has fascinating worldbuilding, a reluctant heir to the throne who’s forced to lead a rebellion, ample hurt-comfort opportunities, and the first book is available for only $4 including shipping on (US) Amazon! You should definitely join me in my tiny fandom :)

In case you’re picking up the fandom for the first time, I’ve split my prompts into two categories. Here are the prompts that rely only on the first book:

• We hardly see anything of Davin this book, and I’d love to see something from his point of view during the time that Dina and her mother are in Dunark. When does he first realize that something’s wrong? How does he handle caring for and comforting Melli? Or, how does he react once the group returns home?


• I would also love either Nico’s POV on any of the events of the book, or any sort of backstory involving him. I’m a sucker for both hurt/comfort and unadulterated angst, and Nico’s childhood has plenty of opportunities for both. I’d also love to see his first night in prison, or some of his interactions with Master Maunus.


• 8-year-old-me loved Dina (and 20-year-old-me) still does!) so I’d be happy with anything focusing on her. We see her adjusting to her powers throughout the first book, but I’d love to see how she first discovered them, and/or pre-book scenes of the other villagers reacting to her new powers.

Full-series prompts (spoilers ahead!):

• One of the reasons I fell in love with this series was its exploration of the effects of trauma, but I can never get enough recovery and hurt-comfort fic. Something with any of the characters (including those I haven’t requested) getting used to life post-Drakan/post-series resolution would be lovely.


• I’d also love to see Dina as an adult, working as a Shamer. Perhaps a casefic-type story, where she has to investigate a crime and find the culprit (maybe a crime that brings back bad memories of her childhood?) In addition, I’d love to see how her father’s powers play into her work as a Shamer.
•  
• If kidfic is your thing, I’d love to see Dina working with an apprentice of her own (her child, or her niece/nephew?)


• I’ve shipped Davin and Nico since I first read this series in elementary school, and I would love a shippy fic about them if you’re so inclined. I could see them beginning by bonding over their trauma and then ending up kissing.


• We get to see a bit more of Nico’s backstory in the last book, and I’d love something exploring his relationship with Carmian.


• I’d also love a post-canon fic showing what Nico does after the end of the fourth book. Where does he go? Does he ever come back? I had mixed feelings about him abandoning Carmian to rule alone after I first finished the series—does she ever find out what happened to him? (I just want more of a resolution! That’s what fic is for, after all.)


• I’d love to see a post-canon Davin fic as well. How does he adapt to life after everything goes back to “normal”? You could set it directly after canon ends, or if you’re into kidfic/futurefic, I’d love to see something far in the future, maybe from the POV of a child of Davin’s?

The Glamourist Histories- Mary Robinette Kowals

Characters requested: Jane Ellsworth, Vincent Hamilton

This is the canon where I feel like my pregnancy squick needs some more explanation. Depending on when your fic is set, Jane might be pregnant—that’s fine to mention, but I’d rather not have a fic solely focused on the pregnancy. Spoilers for later books in the series to explain more: [The level of detail in Of Noble Family, especially the birth scene, was a bit much for me; descriptions of the baby kicking also tend to creep me out a bit.]

(Some of these prompts are stolen from my Fandom Growth Exchange letter.)

If you want to go in a shippy direction, I love all of the canon ships, and honestly if you have a non-canon ship that you love, I will probably love it too. There’s a grand total of one fic for this series the last time I checked, so I would be thrilled with anything. (A note: I’ve read the entire series, so you can set your fic wherever you like.) A few prompts:

• The worldbuilding in this series fascinates me, and I would love to see how historical, technological, or scientific events would have been affected by the existence of glamour. I’d love to read a scientific paper on glamour, if that’s something you’d enjoy writing! The Kingdom of Faerie has also been mentioned a few times in political situations (usually in the context of The United Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Faerie, if I recall correctly), but never expanded on—does Fairyland exist in this universe? How does it connect to glamour? Is there a reason that the Kingdom of Faerie is mentioned in political proceedings but never interacted with? Perhaps the fairies have been isolated from humans for a long while, but then come back to the mortal world—what happens next?


• I wasn’t expecting to love Jane and Vincent’s relationship as much as I did. Anything about their relationship and/or their work together would be lovely. Maybe the two of them working with a particularly difficult client, or enjoying some rare time off. If you’re inclined to write something NSFW, I’d love that as well—I’ve got some of my favorite kinks and sexual tropes listed above, although you can of course write something more vanilla if that’s more your speed.


• One thing I’d love to see for these two is crossdressing—I’m especially into Jane crossdressing as part of foreplay and/or sex, but if you want to have Vincent in a dress as well, I definitely won’t say no!
• I headcanon Vincent as bi, but very conflicted about it due to his upbringing (and the events of his childhood detailed in Of Noble Family), and I would love something about him coming out to Jane—maybe after the trial, he could tell her about a lover from his school days? Given her reaction to finding out about the prostitute he frequented in his youth, I can’t imagine Jane would take it too well at first, but I think she’d come around eventually.


• And again, I’ve only requested Jane and Vincent here, but I would love to receive fic featuring any of the nominated characters.

A Lily Among Thorns- Rose Lerner

Characters requested: Any (Elijah Hathaway, Solomon Hathaway, Serena Ravenshaw)

You don’t have to include all of my requested characters in the fic, although of course you’re free to.

• I’d love to see more of post-marriage Serena’s interactions with the Hathaway family, or backstory about the adventures and challenges she faced in between leaving her family and the plot of the book. I would also enjoy fic set while she’s young and living with her family.


• I’d also love to see the childhood shenanigans that Elijah and Solomon get up to. Solomon mourning Elijah would also be lovely.


• Spy stories are one of my favorite genres, so if you’d like to write about Elijah’s adventures in espionage, I would be thrilled!


• If you’re inclined to write a more pornographic fic, I’d be happy with receiving one for any of my requested characters. I don’t have any specific headcanons or prompts forElijah-centric smut—feel free to pair him up with Rene or an OC! For Solomon and Serena, I’ve always had a weakness for a more worldly woman introducing her innocent husband to all sorts of depravities. (My kingdom for Serena/Solomon pegging fic, if you’d be interested in writing it!)

Strange Empire

Characters Requested: Rebecca Blithely

Note that I only requested Rebecca, but I love all of the characters in the tagset, and would be thrilled to receive any gift that focused partially or wholly on one of my non-requested characters as well.

• Something focusing on Rebecca (either pre- or post-canon) studying medicine or caring for patients would be really neat. (I’ve got next to no medical knowledge, so don’t feel like extensive research is necessary!)


• Rebecca is my bicycle for this fandom—I’d love shipfic pairing her up with anyone and everyone (with a slight preference for any of the women or Morgan). On the crackier side of things, if you can make a sex-pollen-induced Rebecca-centric gangbang happen, I will love you forever (maybe she’s experimenting with some new herbs/medications/chemicals/etc and breathes in the wrong thing?)


• I’d also love something along the lines of a character study. How does she feel about being so separate from the rest of society, viewed as an oddity instead of a person? I’d also love an examination of her relationship with Morgan. It fell apart in a very interesting way over the season, and I’d love to see your take on what happens next (whether that’s Morgan’s departure with Miss Logan, Rebecca and Morgan somehow making things work, or wherever else your fic takes you).


• There was a lot of talk around the end of the season about how the environment had changed the characters, and made them more violent. I would love to see something giving the setting magical powers (maybe a curse, or a tie to Fairyland or a Native American equivalent), and a magical and/or horror take on the changes the characters. Also (this may be embarrassingly clear from my earlier letters, but) I am very into changeling narratives. If you’d like to play with Rebecca being either a figurative changeling, literal changeling, or both, I’d be very happy!