Dear Yuletide Author

[storms]

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Hello! I'm mautadite. Thank you so much for writing this fic for me. I hope you have a great time making it. I say it all the time: 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. My letter writing format is pretty much me blabbing out ideas and stuff that I like; definitely don't feel like you have to incorporate everything. 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 fic for any of them. Write something that you'd enjoy yourself!

Here are some of my general likes and dislikes.

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! :) Oh, and I'm fine with holiday fic, if you want the characters to celebrate any of the end-of-year, gift-giving holidays.

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!

» The majority of my prompts are relationship based, but if you don't ship what I ship, no worries! If I didn't include specific gen prompts it's probably because I feel like the romantic ones can be easily adapted to be platonic. If you need more, please please feel free to anon message me or contact me through the mods!

» Scrolling through my tumblr and checking the tags for the different fandoms (1, 2, 3, 4) might give you a few more ideas about what I like. But only if you want to/think it would help!

Okay, here are my fandoms! I've included some optional lyrics with each of them, just in case you need/want that dash of extra inspiration. (Yeah, I'm going through a Hozier phase. It's lasted 6 years. It's fine.)

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The Dark Tower
- Roland Deschain, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean

honey, i laugh when it sinks in / the pillar i am, upright [x]

In the couple years since I finished this series, I find myself thinking about it constantly. Some general notes: please no permanent magical fix-its for either Susannah's physical disability or her personality disorder. That said, while I don't mind if Detta/Odetta/Mia make appearances, I'd prefer if Susannah was holding the reins for the majority of the fic.

» Roland/Eddie/Susannah - A brief background: I actually didn't care for Roland very much in the first book. I only started liking him, and the series, during 'The Drawing of the Three' because that book introduced Eddie and Susannah/Odetta, and I LOVE them. They make me love Roland. The three of them have the most fascinating relationship; they love and respect Roland, are a little in awe of him, but with each step on their journey they come towards a more equal footing with him. Each side of this triangle is wonderful to me. Eddie and Susannah falling in love was just... gah! I don't think Stephen King is particularly great at writing romance, but he knocked it out of the park with this one. They love each other so much! Then there's Eddie and Roland; I love that the story leans on the fact that Eddie is kinda Cuthbert come again, but but not quite. Eddie saved Roland as much as Roland saved him. I love them with all their cheek-kissing and hand-touching and hand-holding. And nothing thrilled me more than the fact that Susannah's chosen name just happened to be so close to that of Roland's first love; perhaps it means little but it made me heart sing. Roland, in a way, made Susannah, and idk that's romantic as heck to me. Also they kinda ship themselves. All of this just to say: I'd love OT3 fic. That sweet spot right after 'The Drawing of the Three' is one I think of a lot: tell me about how Roland trains them, but they become gunslingers in their own right. Show me some of their time as three weird but effective parents, after Jake's drawing. Show me getting together. They're very matter of fact about how much they love each other, and I think they'd be just as matter of fact about becoming a romantic trio. Post-canon fic where Roland finds Eddie and Suze in New York. Or a 'Song of Susannah' AU. I definitely feel like things ended up for the best with Eddie and Roland in Maine 1977, but what if things had gone the way they'd intended, and they found themselves in New York 1999, on Susannah-Mio's tail after all? What do they do to save their girl? I would ecstatically read any story you want to tell about these three.

» Gen - If the romantic OT3 isn't your thing, their relationship as a family gets me going just as much. I love how good Eddie and Susannah (and Jake and Oy) are for Roland. They make him a better person, give him a reason to go on, to live, other than the Tower, made him into a better person. Feel free to take any of the above prompts and write it in a platonic way, and definitely feel free to include Jake and Oy and even Callahan. Interpersonal relationships are my bread and butter for fic; or something like snapshots of Roland telling a story, Eddie teaching the gang some trick, Susannah singing for them, Roland teaching them how to dance commala... I'd love it all.

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A Charm of Magpies
- Lucien Vaudrey, Stephen Day

if i was born as a black thorn tree / i'd wanna be felled by you, held by you [x]

I adore a good opposites attract romance and goodness, this delivered so spectacularly!! They'll probably go down as my favourite tall and small couple ever. I loved that the magic and the world-building was simple and yet so unique. And I LOVED these dudes.

» Lucien/Stephen - What I'm most yearning for is post-series fic. I'd say they more than earned that retirement. Show me adventures in Constantinople, on the Silk Road, in Shanghai. Lucien shows Stephen some of his favourite haunts, drags him into some of his favourite pastimes. I'd love to see him regaling Stephen with more stories of his adventures right before they get dropped into another one. I'm sure there's supernatural shenanigans happening all over the world, and I'm sure they'll find ways to muddle into and out of them. I'd love seeing more of Lucien saving the day in his own very Lucien way. A little case fic/monster of the week type thing is always great. Feel free to set the story closer to England, perhaps in the timeline of 'Jackdaw' or 'Rag and Bone'. Honestly these two have such great chemistry, great banter and snark and they love each other SO MUCH and I'd be happy to see any of that. Or just them... being happy! (Two for joy... T_____T) If you have any AU ideas, I'd be happy to read them, whatever the setup (though I can't really imagine these two in a world WITHOUT the paranormal). What if they first meeting was in China, not in England? What if Stephen's electric touch manifested in some other way? What if the magic that runs through them when they make love has other side effects, other than the migrating tattoos? This would be a GREAT ship for magical body-swap shenanigans. Go wild! And if you're into writing porn, their loving D/s is all the way up my alley, and you can't go wrong with that. Ooh, and spanking!

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Chaos Walking Trilogy
- Benison Moore, 1017

true that love in withdrawal was the weeping of me / that the sound of the saw must be known by the tree [x]

This series blew me away, and the third book immediately went down as one of my favourites of all time. I just really like scifi where the aliens are really ALIEN, where they think and process and live really differently, and the Land was perfect for that. With Ben now being a part of the Land... gah. Note: I'm fine with you referring to 1017 as 1017/The Return/The Sky; whatever works best for the story you want to tell and the POV you choose.

» Ben/1017 - The possibilities of this ship make me want to pull my hair out. From sheer happiness, you must understand. I really thought for a minute the book might make it canon. The setup is fantastic: with Ben now being the Source, and having a closer link to the Land than any other human, pretty much being the symbol of the dawn of a new age of cooperation, and with 1017 being the Sky, a leader and a caretaker, but still someone who's very young and every much in need of guidance (unwilling or awkward as he might be at first about taking it). So... give me anything! Getting to know each other while Todd's in the coma. Ben helping 1017 come to terms with his mistake, running interference between him and Viola. Building a slow friendship as they run through issues with the Land and the new colonists. I imagine a lot of people would be mystified about Ben making a point of being so close to the person who almost killed his son, but Ben sees it as simple, sees it as his job to champion forgiveness and empathy. Perhaps they talk to each other about their lost loves, Cillian and 1017's one in particular. 1017 slowly and reluctantly finds himself identifying with Ben. I imagine the possibility of something more than friendship would be slow to occur to him... or would it? Who makes the first move, who initiates the first kiss? What do their respective species make of it? Oh man, what does TODD make of it, when he wakes up? I imagine it'll be something of a shock to pop out of a coma and see his dad and former worst enemy making out at his bedside. Ahaha, or something. Listen: aaaaaaanything with these two forming a relationship, romantic or platonic, would be amazing and I'm here for it.

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Temeraire
- William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay

at first chance / i'd take the bed warmed by the body [x]

This wonderfully creative fantasy world has my heart, and it's just MADE for telling stories. I've loved Laurence and Tharkay's relationship from the very first meeting in BPW,and I'll never tire of reading about them. Side note: I adore Jane, so if you want to include her as his casual lover, just good friends bc they decided to call it off, wing-woman who helps him get his first bf: I'll take it.

» Laurence/Tharkay - The last book narratively let me down a bit but how thrilled am I that Laurence and Temeraire's endgame is to go live with Tharkay in his family estate? SUPER THRILLED. I've love to see like, village fic? How does Tharkay fit in with the fellow residents of his new home? (I imagine as he always does: giving no fucks on the outside.) What do the other members of the gentry and the villagers make of their new eccentric neighbour... and the big blonde overly polite retired admiral with the gigantic dragon who come to live with him? Outsider POV fic could be fun. Of course I'd love seeing them all adjust to the new life: Tharkay overseeing renovations on the house, consulting with Temeraire on plans for his new pavilion (bc of course he must have a pavilion) Laurence helping with construction because he's practical like that, and also why not? What else do they do to occupy their time? Maybe Temeraire wants to write a book about their campaign, and recruits Laurence and Tharkay as his assistants. Maybe there are a few loose ends with the estate, and Laurence helps Tharkay tie them up. It would be amusing (to me, and Tharkay I think) to see Laurence Laurencing his proper little heart out at some shitty relation or other of Tharkay's. More to the ship: I'd love to just see them spending quiet time with each other, discussing what they've been through, the current state of the world, how they've changed, how they've not. I really do think there's a case to be made for something romantic straining the air between them for years ("Laurence knew him; knew him and knew himself.") but Tharkay believes it to be unrequited while Laurence is just a bit repressed. Who makes the first move, and how? Does Temeraire simply nag them into it? If you're into writing Jane, maybe she's the one to hit Laurence with the clue bat? I'd just really love to see them come to the logical conclusion to years of fighting and camaraderie and loyalty and amassing a feral dragon army and swooping in with them cavalry-style like it's no big deal: smooching. Some tropes that would be great for these two: bed-sharing, pretending to be a couple, mutual oblivious pining.

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Thanks again, and have fun writing! ♥

[I suspect this thing is riddled with typos; pls pardon me for a day or two before I can come back to clean it up! <3]