Dear Yuletide Author

[storms]

Hello there, and happy yuletide season! :D

I'm mautadite. First off, thank you so much for writing this fic for me. I hope you have a great time making it. This letter is just a series of guidelines; just try to avoid my do-not-wants and I'm sure I'll love what you write. If my prompts don't get you going, and you want to take the fic in another direction, or mix and match prompts, feel free! I've requested these fandoms and characters because I'm really invested in them all, in one way or another, and I'd be happy to receive fanworks for any of them. Make something that you'd enjoy yourself!

Okay, so here are some specifics for you!

General likes: (please feel free to include) friendships, friendships that develop into romance, introspection, character studies, domestic fluff, mystery, family relationships, exploration of intense loyalty. I like future fic and modern AUs and canon divergent AUs, in the vein of 'what if so-and-so didn't die, what if this happened instead of that'. Feel free to explore any and all of your trans and/or nonbinary headcanons. I'm really into character interaction, it's often my favourite part of a story, but a good plot can really get me going too! There are a bunch of tropes that I'm quite fond of, like 'separated from the group and surviving on their own', 'undercover as a couple', 'sharing a bed', 'friends to lovers'. I quite like fusion AUs, so if an idea strikes you that you can meld/combine with Pacific Rim or His Dark Materials, go for it, if that's your thing! :)

General dislikes: (please try to avoid) rape/dubcon (discussing or mentioning them is fine, especially in survival/recovery scenarios), character bashing, character death, first person pov, a/b/o, super depressing/sad endings. I don't need out and out fluff, and I do enjoy angst, but I'd definitely prefer something that ends happily or hopefully. If infidelity is a part of the story, I'd prefer that you didn't concentrate on it too much.

Other notes:

» I'm fine with any rating. You certainly don't need to feel obligated to write porn, but if you'd like to, click here!

» I tried not to be too constrictive with my prompts, but if you'd like me to expand upon them, feel free to leave me an anon comment, or go through the mods if your prefer.

» Scrolling through my tumblr and checking the tags for the different fandoms (1, 2, 3) might give you a few more ideas about what I like. But only if you want to/think it would help!

All right, let's get into fandom specifics. Once again, these are more like guidelines. I've included some totally optional poetry quotes with each fandom, just in case you need/want the extra inspiration.

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Luther
- John Luther, Justin Ripley

He was pointing at the moon, but I was looking at his hand. [x]

For me, Luther/Ripley is that OTP, you know? There's pretty much nothing I wouldn't be happy with for these two. Some things that I love are Justin's almost instant loyalty towards Luther, how intensely he feels about him, how Luther seems to not know how to deal with that sometimes, the way they work together... They're just one of my favourite dynamics ever! So anything romantic between them would be great.

» Series 3 AU. I'd prefer to avoid angst for this ship (I still haven't watched 3x04 because I am a gigantic baby. I will watch it soon though!) so give me canon divergence where things turn out okay in the end. Or something set in canon (case-fic is lovely, if you're up to it), or pre-canon, or a completely different AU, if that's what you'd like! :)

» Luther is a pretty serious, subdued show, but I wouldn't mind if you lightened things up with something trope-y, like 'undercover in a gay bar'. Especially if Luther approaches it as intensely as he does everything else. Once their dynamic is close to what it is in canon, I'll be delighted with whatever you come up with.

Gen

» Anything Justin-centric. Tell me more about who he is, what he's like with his family, how he became a policeman, what his life was like before Luther. I definitely see him as being queer, there are hints enough in the text, and it'd be cool to explore what his life was like as a non-het policeman.

*

Temeraire
- William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay, John Granby, Augustine Little

i want a word for the moment you know
you’re almost home [x]

God I love this series. I'm so into the entire world, the concept, the characters... and honestly, Regency dragons! What's better than that? Laurence/Tharkay is something I fell for really hard. I love the dynamic; Laurence is such a straight-laced honour nerd, Tharkay is so... not. :)

» I'd be happy with anything in the 'friends to lovers' trope (they've come so far since Blackpowder War!), I also really adore the 'pretending to be a couple' trope, and ngl, I'd love to see that with these two. And I am always up for Tharkay calling Laurence out on how white and oblivious he is.

» Tharkay bonding with Temeraire, or Temeraire trying to be a busybody matchmaker because he realises they would be perfect for each other, honestly Laurence, it's just good sense. Or something, haha.

Granby is one of my favourite characters ever; I was so delighted with the Crucible of Gold revelation. Granby/Little is so cute! We haven't seen much of Little, (you might say there's been very little of Little...) but that just means there's a lot of room for headcanons!

» The world can always use more get together fic of these two in my opinion. When and how did it happen? If it's after Blackpowder War, I'd love to see Little's initial reaction to Iskierka, and how they got along with each other and learn to share Granby. :)

» Something set during Empire of Ivory, while Laurence and the others were off gallivanting in Africa. They seem like such a sweet couple; it'd be nice to know what they're like when they're alone, or on an adventure together.

Gen

» Granby gen would be great, gosh. It'd be lovely to see him as a kid/young man coming to terms with his feelings and sexuality. Tell me about his family. How many of them know about his queerness? What are their thoughts on his joining the Corps? Getting backstory for Little in the same vein would delight me too.

» One of my absolute favourite things about this entire universe is the bond between dragons and their captains, so please please please feel free to explore any of the guys' friendships with their dragons.

*

How to Get Away With Murder
- Annalise Keating, Bonnie Winterbottom, Michaela Pratt, Laurel Castillo

i go where my love goes [x]

This is one of my favourite new fandoms. Lots of stuff to love: so many female characters, canon queerness, people of colour in roles that they're so often denied... it's great.

Annalise/Bonnie hit me hard in the gut; I'd describe it as a guilty pleasure, but I honestly don't feel very guilty about how much I love their dynamic and just love them together in general, haha. I have a huge loyalty kink, and Bonnie's feelings towards Annalise, regardless of what Annalise says and how she treats her, hits it square on. I'm so into it.

» I know (as of the writing of this letter) that we've only gotten a little bit of insight into their past together, but I'd love to see that expanded on. How exactly did they meet, when did Bonnie's feelings start going beyond hero-worship, how deep and how far does it extend? And Annalise's treatment of Bonnie and her reactions to her heroine-worship clearly stem at least partially from frustration and guilt ("I didn't take care of you. I ruined you."). But it's obvious that she cares about her a lot anyway. Give me something that navigates that, or sheds some light on their relationship in general!

» I'd love something set in the early days of Bonnie's employment, or case-fic, or something character study-ish. Show me more of their working relationship and how it might bleed into a romantic one.

» I didn't request Eve, but if you're a poly kind of person and you see a way to make it work, go for it! Annalise/Eve with Bonnie pining in their general direction is great. Pining in general with Annalise/Bonnie would work for me, not gonna lie. I'm cool with unrequited (or at least not requited in the same way) Bonnie-->Annalise too.

With every passing episode, Michaela/Laurel seems more and more like something that might actually happen, and man I am so Ready. What's not to love about them? They're both smart, and headstrong, and determined, and I love how their similarities and differences play out on screen. Their bickering can be so cute, but I also love it when murdertimes are on and they're comforting each other and being there for one another.

» Michaela reads a LOT to me like a closeted lesbian. Her determination to have the perfect wedding/marriage with Aiden was so mired in appearances, and I honestly felt like a lot of her panic about him being queer was reflective of things that she felt herself? And Laurel is bi as hell, that's pretty much canon. It would be interesting to see how they both deal with their sexuality. Get together fic is, again, an all time favourite of mine.

» I'd also never say no to Laurel giving Michaela her first orgasm; that can't be written too many times, imho. If this isn't an 'I need to go down on her, stat' face, idk what is.

» An exploration of the girls and their families would also be pretty interesting; we've seen that Laurel has some definite tension with her relatives. What is Michaela's family like? Any story you want to tell about these two would delight me.

Gen

» Annalise+Michaela, "I wanna be her." This quote takes on a whole new significance after we learn that Michaela is from the dirty south, and has worked and worked to mould her image into something approaching Annalise's. We know that Annalisa comes from humble roots too, and I would love for Michaela to realise that they have a lot more in common than she originally thought. Also, leading in from my headcanon that Michaela is gay and super deep in the closet, I would LOVE if she found out that Annalisa is queer as well. Their relationship obviously isn't all peaches and sunshine, especially as of the new season, but just thinking about how Michaela would feel having an older, black, queer, female mentor... I'm having an emotion.

*

Once again, please don't stress yourself out. ♥ I want you to have a good time this yule season! If one of the ideas I have here is something that you'd like to write, then great! Just be sure to have fun.

Thanks again, and good luck sweetheart! ♥

I've been fiddling with this letter to fix some embarrassing typos, but I haven't added anything, no worries!