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: Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells, Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley, The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye and Miss Scarlet and the Duke (TV 2020).

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

 

Books of the Raksura – Martha Wells
Moon

Canon: It's a wildly-inventive series of books (and short stories) about a world with multiple sentient species, focusing on the Raksura, a species of shapeshifters, and specifically focusing on Moon, a shapeshifter who has spent most of his life going from community to community, struggling to hide himself, until he is brought to one Raksura court. There’s adventure, court intrigue, romance and battle.

I really love Moon’s character growth throughout the series—he goes from being completely alone and only able to rely on himself, to trusting and loving those around him. I also love how he comes to embrace who he is, even if that is someone who behaves not at all as a proper consort should (and that’s especially why I love him).

I love how Moon connects to those around him—especially Jade and Chime. My heart breaks for him when he thinks that Jade doesn’t want him enough to go after him (and then cheers when she does!). I love how Moon does whatever needs to get the job done, even if he knows that he’s going to socially take a hit for it (or even when he takes the actual hits for it) and how he’d go to the end of the earth for the people he cares about (especially Jade and Chime).

I would love to see more of Moon and Jade or Moon and Chime or Moon, Jade and Chime together. This could be set during the series or sometime after the events of The Harbors of the Sun.

I would also love to see Moon and the fledgings of Sky Copper (or perhaps with the fledgings more towards adults). I love how close he is with Frost, Bitter and Thorn and how protective they are with him (and he is of them). When Bitter was willing to fly to keep Moon from leaving Indigo Cloud…

I would also be exceedingly interested in Moon going on future (scandalous adventures)—does he accompany Shade on another adventure together? Does he help Shade find a queen (maybe Consolation?) Or further reconciliation and development of a relationship between Malachite and Moon. 

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Summers at Castle Auburn – Sharon Shinn
Elisandra Halsing, 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 Elisandra and Roderick, both individually and as a couple. I love the incredible subtlety of their relationship and just how they manage to keep it so secret. 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.

If you wanted to focus on one of the characters, I’d love to see Roderick's perspective: falling in love with Elisandra, sacrificing 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?

I’d love to see more of their future—Roderick and Elisandra tackling their new life together and working through the roughness of adjustment.

I'd also be very interested in a modern AU—for example, I could absolutely see Elisandra and Roderick connecting as a modern day royalty scandal with plenty of intrigue. I also would definitely be into a reincarnation story about them and how they connect throughout different lives.  

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The Watchmaker of Filigree Street Series – Natasha Pulley
Grace Carrow, Akira Matsumoto

Canon: The first book is about a telegraphist in Victorian England who finds his life changing quite rapidly when he seems to coincidentally come in contact with a Japanese watchmaker and they become close friends. The second book, The Lost Future of Pepperharrow takes place some time after the first and is set in Japan.

My heart completely breaks for Grace in the first book—yes, she makes very bad decisions but she’s also impossibly constrained and just trying to find a way out for herself. I love the glimpses that we get of her in The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, that she’s teaching in Japan and married to Akira. I also liked the bits that we see of Akira—how concerned he is about Grace when she goes missing. How protective he is upon her return!

I would love to see more of them! What happens in between the first and second book? When and how do they officially get together? What is it like when Grace meets Akira’s family? Is Akira super protective in his Akira way when Grace has to interact in Japanese high society?

Do they go on adventures together in Europe or Asia? Do they have any crazy experiences traveling to Japan (feel free to make it as supernatural or fantastical as you like)? What happens after the events of the second book—how do they end up back in England? Does Grace go on to invent some really crazy things due to her imprisoned research (like…a time machine?)?

One of the many things that I liked about their relationship in the first book is how Akira pays attention to all the little things about Grace—he makes sure to drag her out of her laboratory at least once a day (although he mocks her about it), he lets her borrow his clothes all the time, he even checks to make sure that someone’s filled Grace in on the birds and bees prior to her wedding night. He’s very thoughtful and seems to work hard to make it seem like it’s in a very off-hand manner (but it’s not). I would love to see more of Akira watching out and caring for Grace and I would love to see how Grace shows her love for Akira.

I’m also up for some canon divergence! Instead of Akira and Grace presumably getting together soon after the events of the first book, do they go different directions and then reconnect later in life when Akira is a famous ambassador or diplomat and Grace has become famous for her inventions or scientific discoveries? Or maybe their roles reverse from the book and Akira needs help and Grace comes to his rescue.

If you would like to focus on Grace or Akira separately, I would love a look at what happens to that person after the events of the first book—how does Akira handle becoming a duke? How does Grace get a professorship as a foreign woman in 1880s Japan?

I would be open to crossovers—do Grace, Eliza Scarlet (Miss Scarlet) and Bryony (The Marsden series) all know each other? I am also all about the magical realism in this book, so feel free to go as far with it as you like!

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The Far Pavilions
Anjuli-Bai, Ashton “Ashok” Pelham-Martyn

Canon: An epic novel set in 19^th century India about a British officer who grew up in India, believing he was Indian. However, when his parentage is revealed, he is taken back to England. As an adult, he returns to India as part of the British Indian Army and finds himself torn between his upbringing and his status as a British man.

I love the angst and pining in this book—the seemingly unbridgeable divide between Juli and Ash, their brief interlude in the desert and then the horrible events that bring them back together. I love how deeply they connect with each other, both as children and then meeting again as adults. I love how compassionate both of them are—how strongly they feel about doing their duty, whether to the army or family/friends, as well as how loyal they each are.

I would love to see more of them finally getting their deserved happy ending together—maybe a look at them right after they get married either onboard the ship or as they make their way towards the Guides base.

I would also love to see what their future lives are like after they leave Afghanistan for the Himalayas. Do they go on more adventures, just the two of them? I feel like it’s a long way between Kabul and the Himalayas and all sorts of things could happen to them. Maybe Ash gets in trouble and Juli has to rescue him or the two of them find themselves in some not great company and have to find their way out.

I would also love to see them raising a family together—what are their kids like? Do Ash and Zarin ultimately reconnect and reconcile? I love the blossoming that we saw of Juli after she married Ash and her friendships—I would love to see her make more friends (she deserves all the friends!) and thrive, without having to feel like she needs to hide.

Feel free to go canon divergent as well—does Wally somehow survive and he finds Ash and Juli later in life? From a much earlier perspective, what if Ash and Juli had escaped together as children with Sita?

What would Ash and Juli be like in an alternate universe? Do they meet in a different life or perhaps modern day? I would also be open to crossovers—do Ash and Juli come across Leo and/or Bryony on their travels?

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Miss Scarlet and the Duke
Eliza Scarlet, Moses, William “Duke” Wellington

Canon: A tv show about a Victorian-era lady detective who tries to make a living solving crime and is, at turns, assisted by and at odds with an old acquaintance who is a detective at Scotland Yard. (Available to watch on PBS)

I love Eliza—she’s determined and smart and constantly getting herself into trouble. I also love her relationships with William and Moses. She has a deep shared history with William and I love how she trades on that and how William is both enchanted and so incredibly frustrated by her. Moses is one of the few people who really sees Eliza and her potential clearly and I love how they start to form a team. I also love that Moses and William do not get along from the get go!

I would love to know more about William’s backstory—how did he come to be mentored by Eliza’s father? What is his background and how did he grow up? Tell me more about this infamous kiss between William and Eliza from their youth!

Moses is also fascinating—we get such interesting glimpses about him. How did he come to be working at the burlesque (and then the gentleman’s club)? I would love to see him and Eliza working together—they have such great chemistry together, I feel like they’d make a great team. I love how he, like William is not afraid to speak his mind with Eliza.

I would be very into seeing Eliza continuing solving cases (perhaps even digging deeper into her father’s death) and working with William and Moses. Maybe something more dire happens (someone is kidnapped?) and a rescue is called for. 

I am also very much open to Eliza/Moses/William, so if you’d like to explore that, I am all for it! If someone’s been kidnapped and a rescue is needed, I am definitely here for some hurt/comfort in the aftermath of that. There were some very tense moments between various members of Eliza/William, Eliza/Moses, Moses/William in the show that I would love to see explored (and potentially end in a mutually satisfying way for everyone?).

You could also go in a more supernatural direction—are there strange things afoot and the three of them are the only people who notice and investigate?

I would also be interested in a crossover between similar era canons—for example, do Eliza, Bryony (The Marsden series) and Grace (The Watchmaker of Filigree Street) know each other? Is there a professional lady organization that they’re all members of?

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