Dear Yuletide Writer

[partypaprika]

Dear Yuletide writer,

Thank you for writing for me! I’ve included some thoughts below on my preferences and fandoms. Please don’t stress too much if you’re inspired to write something else (although I’d prefer if you didn’t delve into my DNWs). I’ve given some specific prompts, but feel to take a general theme from my general likes if that’s more inspiring!

 I'm not active on LJ/Dreamwidth anymore, although you're welcome to poke around here. I'm slightly active on tumblr and you can also check out my pinboard. I'm on ao3 as partypaprika.

For this year, I've requested the following fandoms: Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky, The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews, Not Quite A Husband by Sherry Thomas, Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn and The Fall (2006).

 

 

General likes:

-Hurt/comfort
-Conflict
-Slow burn
-Pining and UST
-Sacrifices, especially if characters are making big sacrifices on behalf of someone that they care deeply about
-Angst (ideally ending in a HEA)
-Having dysfunctional relationships
-Enemies being forced (either directly or by circumstances) to work together
-Enemies to lovers
-Opposites attracting or coming to understand each other
-Marriages of convenience, fake dating, etc.
-People being thrown together in wildly unexpected situations
-Magical realism and magical powers
-Time travel, time loops, time do-overs etc.
-Modern royalty AUs
-Secret identities and identity porn
-Settings that have a sense of mystery: cemeteries, forests, abandoned temples etc.
-Epistolary and non-linear storytelling
-Canon divergence
-Mythology
-Hidden displays of affection

 

DNWs:

-Major character death
-Noncon
-Incest
-Painplay
-Torture
-Humiliation kink
-A/b/o
-Dom/sub
-Mpreg
-Knotting
-Coffee shop AUs
-High school AUs
-Unrequested poly ships

 

 

Guns of the Dawn - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Cristan Northway, Emily Marshwic

Canon: It's a book about (kind of) a fantasy napoleonic era land war, combined with the never-ending decimation of WWI, and then a dash of magic. The story focuses on a woman who watches as the war depletes her country's resources and men, ultimately getting drafted into the war effort herself where she must face what it means to be at war. This book nails some of my favorite tropes: competence, people being thrust into extreme situations, a slow burn romance that happened very organically. I loved it!

This book totally took me by surprise! I found myself completely engaged by the war that Emily was fighting as well as the changes that shaped Emily. Emily's introspection and determination drove the book, but she did it amongst a fascinating set of characters.

I'd really love more of just about anything post-canon. I love Emily and Cristan together so much! I would love to see an exploration of what Cristan and Emily being together means—do they continue to see each other in secret or do they eventually go public with their relationship? I would love to see Emily introducing Cristan to her family as someone that she is romantically involved with!  They also will likely have to deal with confusion and censure over their relationship--Emily is the golden hero whereas Cristan is hated. How do they support each other when there are issues in public?

 

What does Emily decide to do post-war? How does Emily decide to move forward now that she’s not in the army? Does Cristan help Emily adjust, even as they both know that the war has irrevocably changed them and their relationship? Maybe with Emily’s newfound hero-status she’s appointed to an international position, like an ambassador or diplomat—how does she handle that (could even be a crossover to a similar time period canon, maybe she ends up at an outpost near Damar?)?

I also loved the Survivor's Club and would be very happy to see them meet up down the line. Where do they all end up and what brings them all together again?

 

A few more prompts: Emily takes Cristan to meet the Survivor’s Club—how does that go? Emily and Cristan get caught together and everyone jumps to the wrong conclusion about Cristan and Emily is forced to come clean about their relationship—shock and scandal!

 

 I’m also very intrigued by Emily and Cristan living in a different time period or having a crossover. We already know that there’s some ability to do magic, maybe Emily has need for some paranormal investigators like Simon Feximal or the gentleman from The Spectred Isle (K.J. Charles). Or maybe Wirt and Greg from Over the Garden Wall visit Chalcaster along their journeys?




Kate Daniels Series
Kate Daniels, Curran Lennart

Canon: A ten book urban fantasy series (but it goes by super quickly!) that follows a private investigator in post-magical Atlanta where unreliable magic and creatures are the norm. She solves mysteries, kicks ass and has a past that she’s hoping stays there (spoiler: it doesn’t).

I like both Kate and Curran so much as individuals and together. I love their back and forth and just how much they care about the other—how they’re willing to risk everything for each other. I love how much it it’s them against the world (sometimes literally).

I’d love to see more of the cut scenes from when they were getting together. I love their banter and chemistry—give me the two of them flirting or fighting or making out (or all three!).

I’d also love to see more of them after the events of the series—now that the big bad has (temporarily) been defeated, how goes every day life? What new cases does Kate take on (does Curran help?)? Do Kate and Curran take on any other proteges? How do they handle running the mercenary guild? How does it go training Julie and Conlan?

I would also love to hear more about both of their backgrounds—what were they individually like as teenagers (or what if a spell reverts them back to their teenage selves?).

I also love the interplay with magic in Kate Daniel’s world. I would love to see what possible craziness occurs to either Kate, Curran or the two of them. Body switching? Repeating days? Kate becoming a shapeshifter? Something more angsty like amnesia or taking away emotions? Anything goes! It can be as fun and light or angsty and dark as you would like!

A few other prompts: Kate and Curran didn’t meet until much later—maybe for the first time during the Midnight Games, how does that go? I also love the two of them rescuing each other, so maybe Roland (or Hugh or a new big bad) is able to kidnap Curran and Kate has to come to his rescue.

I’d also be very into seeing Kate and Curran in alternate universes—what would they be like in a world with no magic? What if Kate had been a shapeshifter? I’m also very open to crossovers—Kate and Curran meet Mercy and Adam from the Mercy Thompson series. Or Kate Daniels lands in the world of Hawkeye and meets Clint and Kate Bishop (or one or both of them show up in Kate Daniel’s world).

 

Not Quite A Husband - Sherry Thomas
Bryony Asquith, Leo Marsden

Canon: Dr. Bryony Asquith is a doctor working in a remote area of India at the turn of the 20^th century. She’s devoted to her work, very much an introvert and also very estranged from her husband, Leo, who she hasn’t seen in a few years. Imagine her surprise when Leo shows up at her family’s request when she’s needed back home.

I love the angst in Leo and Bryony's relationship—how Leo's always had feelings for Bryony (in one form or another, for so long), how Bryony thought that Leo hung the world when they got together initially (and continues to love Leo, even though it's incredibly painful for her). And just how they fell into the many traps that they encountered. They both had baggage that they both brought into the relationship that they weren't able to overcome their first go of it. I love how incredibly flawed both Bryony and Leo are and how that’s influenced the course of their relationship, including how difficult they’ve found it to communicate with each other.

I would love to see how they’ve continued to grow as a couple after the end of the book. What are some of the stumbles that they work through? How do they handle society? I definitely wouldn’t be averse to them finally getting in on that bedroom action that they’ve missed out on for so long!

I would also be really into seeing Bryony and Leo in other settings--maybe they've fallen in love across countless lifetimes. Or maybe their story is set in a different time--the roaring 20s or the 60s. If you're a fan of other Sherry Thomas books, feel free to have them meeting characters from her other works--maybe Bryony and Charlotte Holmes end up knowing each other!

 

I would also be interested in a canon-divergent second get together—maybe Leo never comes to get Bryony and they both end up in the same city later on and they’re forced to live together to keep up the fiction about their relationship (or for other ~reasons~). Or they’re forced to work together, each having their own complicated feelings bubbling under the surface, somewhat under duress…

I would also love a look at Leo’s perspective as he fell in love with Bryony back when they were younger, before Bryony even thought of Leo in that way.

 

 

Summers at Castle Auburn - Sharon Shinn
Coriel Halsing, Elisandra Halsing, Kent Ouvrelet, Roderick

Canon: A fantasy book that takes place in a vaguely medieval world and follows the life of a young woman, an illegitimate daughter of the noble Halsing house, as she spends every summer at the royal castle. There's political intrigue, an awesome sisterly relationship and a few great romances.

I love Corie, Kent, Elisandra and Roderick so much and how they all develop over the course of the book. I love the incredible subtlety of the relationship between Elisandra and Roderick. I would love to know more about how they fell in love and what drew them to each other. Did they just keep re-meeting each other or did one of them seek the other out? I'd love a look at the night before Elisandra's wedding—the desperation and comfort that Roderick and Elisandra shared, not knowing what the future held.  Or, a look at what pushed Roderick to decide to stay at the castle even though it made him miserable.

For Corie and Kent, I love how subtly their relationship develops (although apparently not subtle for Kent!). When did he know that he was in love with Corie? How do they navigate their lives after the events of the book--the hectic wedding, Corie having to navigate court society, running a country? Are there people who try (and almost succeed) at coming between them once they arrive? How do they work through some stumbling blocks and obstacles set before them?

If you wanted to focus on one of the characters, I'd love to see Kent's perspective and how he comes to deal with his growing feelings for Corie or his alliance with Elisandra to keep Bryan in check. I'd also love to see Roderick's perspective: falling in love with Elisandra, sacrifcing his happiness because he knew she was miserable or, more happily, what it's like living together with her on Jaxon's estate. I'd also love to see more about Elisandra--we know so little of what she's really thinking or how she's coping for most of the book. How did she keep herself together and moving forward during the events of the book? As for Corie, how does she cope with being Queen?

I'd also be very interested in a modern AU—modern day royalty scandal and intrigue! For Elisandra and Roderick, I would definitely be into a reincarnation story about them and how they connect throughout different lives.  

 

 

 

The Fall (2006)
Alexandria, Roy Walker

Canon: This is a film that’s a story within a story that takes place in Los Angeles in the early 1900s. A stuntman, Roy, has been injured and is in a hospital where he meets a young girl, Alexandria, who has broken her arm. He begins to tell her a fantastical story about a bandit and his unlikely companions in a far away place and the film follows both Roy’s tale and Roy and Alexandria as they navigate life in the hospital. The film is breathtakingly beautiful!

 

This is one of those films that I feel hook, line and sinker for. I love the stories going on in the film—both the story that Roy tells to Alexandria as well as Roy and Alexandria’s story. I love that they forge a connection with each other despite (or maybe because of) their differences. And each of them have such powerful imaginations—it’s such an amazing to watch.

I like make-believe stories that people tell that become true—do the Bandit and his crew somewhere later interact with Roy and Alexandria? Maybe they meet later in life when Roy and Alexandria are traveling the world. Or maybe Roy and Alexandria get pulled into the Bandit and his group’s story when something arises that they need assistance for?

If you’re into shipping, I’d love to see Roy and Alexandria getting together as adults. There was something that connected them despite their ages and linguistic barriers—maybe they meet and reconnect, with Alexandria now an international explorer, scientist, writer or aviator (or however you see Alexandria being as an adult).

While I would prefer no underage sex, you're welcome to explore Alexandria having known that she was attracted to Roy from a young age. Maybe she sets out in search for him as an adult having always been in love with him. Or she finds him after holding a candle for him for so many years, only to find that he's become bitter and unhappy (which they remedy by getting together!).

If you’re more into gen, I’d love to see how Alexandria’s life was shaped by this brief experience as she gets older. Does she become a biologist like Darwin? Does she become an aviator in pursuit of exciting new places? Does she decide to go into films? How did (or do) her interactions with Roy empower her to see the excitement in the world? What about Roy—how does he continue to heal and grow after he leaves the hospital? If they end up meeting as adults, how do they rebuild the emotional connection and friendship that they had so many years ago?

If you’d like to do a crossover with another fandom, I’m definitely open to that and would love for it to be something from or set near to the film’s time period (1910s-1930s). Maybe Alexandria and Roy meet the stars of Singin' in the Rain during the 1920s Hollywood scene. Maybe when Alexandria and/or Roy go traveling around the world, they meet Rick and Evelyn O'Connell or they hang with Marion Ravenwood. Maybe they meet up with some paranormal investigators? Feel free to go wild!