Yuletide letter!

[thisisthemorning]

Dear Yuletide author,

Thank you so much for offering one of my fandoms! I can't wait to see what you're going to come up with - these are all canons I've loved for years and years, so I'm super excited for any new fic in any of them. If you've come to this letter via the letters post, my AO3 name is also thisisthemorning :D

I'm absolutely a believer in 'optional details are optional', so if none of my prompts spark your imagination, feel free to come up with something else! I just a have a few things I would love to see in general and a few things I generally don't like to read so I'll put those first of all:

In General

Likes - I'd be happy to see any of these!:
- plotty fic (I love long fic, so if you'd like to write something longer, go for it!)
- pre- or post-canon
- happy endings (including AU/fix-it endings)
- friendships or relationships forged through sharing a dangerous situation
- hurt/comfort (including: people getting really beaten up/physically damaged/abused in some way and then being rescued by a loved one; people bravely soldiering on through illness or injury so that they don't let down their friends, winning the day, and finally being overcome by their ailment and having to be cared for, and this ultimately deepening a relationship into romance, deep friendship, or substitute parent relationship - especially if it causes a change of heart about a relationship!)
- unresolved sexual tension
- serious injury and recovery
- adventure!

Dislikes:
- first person or second person narrative
- PWPs/lemons
- super fluffy fic
- porny/kinky fic (sex scenes should fade to black, please)
- AUs (eg hipster AU, high school AU, coffee shop AU etc)
- character bashing

Tricksters - Tamora Pierce

Characters requested: Alianne Cooper, Dovisary Balitang

Signup details:

Generally, I'd love case fic for this fandom - a post-canon spy story featuring both Aly and Dove would be amazing! I don't mind if you want to go for a longer plotted story, or a 'five things' style fic with moments from a larger story.

I definitely ship Aly/Dove, but I'm equally happy for gen fic featuring both of them. I'd particularly love to see an Aly/Dove relationship that develops before and after the rebellion, or one that only becomes romantic after Dove becomes queen. I love their respect for each other and the way their skills complement each other, and I would love to see that worked into the story - going to each other for advice, or helping each other through stressful times, or perhaps needing to work together to solve a problem. This would equally work for a friendship fic for them! Bonding over using their brains for good would be wonderful, whether it leads to romance or deeper friendship.

For romance, a secret romance between them could be fun, so they could use their espionage skills (and so on) to hide it from the court/Dove's family etc (although when they do get found out nobody is particularly surprised or angry!) I'd prefer it if you don't make any mention of Aly/Nawat.

I also ship Aly/Daja from Emelan, so I thought I would leave a couple of prompts here in case we matched on both fandoms and you like the idea! If not, then feel free to ignore completely :) (Aly/Dove/Daja could also be intriguing...)

I would love a story where Aly travels to Emelan as Dove's spymaster, or Daja travels to the Copper Isles on her journeys as a smith-mage, and the two of them meet... I would love to see anything about them getting to know each other and falling for each other - letters, repeated chance meetings, electric attraction, stolen kisses in the palace, ending up on the same ship... anything goes!

Things I would love: little details about the Tortallan universe (I've read all the books), mentions of things Aly has learned from her Dad/a cameo from George, Aly and Dove being equally strong and independent but also making use of each other's strengths, mutual magnetic attraction, spies! adventure! winged horses!

Things I wouldn't enjoy so much: any mentions of Aly/Nawat, characters being embarrassed or having embarrassing things happening to them, unrequited love, unhappy endings

Clangers

Characters requested: The Froglets, the Soup Dragon, Tiny Clanger, Small Clanger

Signup details:

I adored the Clangers as a kid, and I couldn't resist nominating this for Yuletide! To be honest, I would love to see anything at all here, so feel free to let your imagination run wild. I really like the whimsy of the show, and the humour as well, so I would love to see those elements incorporated into a story. However, you can absolutely be as inventive as you want here in terms of how to tell the story or frame it - if you'd like to take a very different tone or format to the show, go for it! (IF/Choose your own adventure? Clangers as political satire? Diary of the Soup Dragon?).

For some more specific prompts:

I would definitely love something that played with the idea that the Clangers are very smart and resourceful - perhaps Tiny Clanger and Small Clanger get into some scrape or come up with a scheme that goes a bit wrong, and the Soup Dragon has to sort it all out?

Alternatively, it could be amusing to try out some crazy crossovers here - perhaps someone from a different canon ends up on the Clangers' moon? (Star Wars? Firefly? Farscape? Mass Effect? BtVS? If you had an idea for another crossover and you're not sure if I know the fandom, feel free to ask anonymously here or check via the mods!)

Things I would love: humour/cracky plot ideas executed seriously, dialogue that plays with the idea that we never hear the Clangers speak words in the show

Things I wouldn't enjoy so much: crossovers with canons I don't know

Emelan - Tamora Pierce

Characters requested: Daja Kisubo

Signup details: I've read and re-read the all the Emelan books multiple times, and I really enjoyed how much we see of Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy's travels. I'd love to see Daja's travels or experiences fleshed out more than in the books - or perhaps her travelling post-canon, (alone or with other characters - Frostpine, her siblings...) and facing some kind of danger or new adventure. Perhaps this could involve travelling with the Traders some more, so that Daja can explore her heritage with all its contradictions. I'd also love to see Daja get the opportunity to explore her sexuality, either pre- or post- Will of the Empress.

Generally, any scenario where Daja has to get through a dangerous adventure would be wonderful, with insights into her character and her having to work magic, especially working together with other characters. I love stories where characters succeed against the odds, especially if they're fighting through trauma of some kind to do so! (injury, terrifying experiences, fear for loved ones, etc).

Alternatively, I'd love to see Daja facing up to some of the aspects of her past as a Trader, then trangshi, then a Trader again, that she hasn't yet dealt with or faced up to.

As I mentioned in my Tricksters prompts, I also ship Alianne/Daja, and I would love to see a story where they meet and work together in some kind of crisis or situation (Daja goes to the Copper Isles or Aly ends up in Emelan for some reason) and end up discovering they have feelings for each other alongside that. Or even just friendship! See my Tricksters prompts for more, if you're interested in this crossover :)

Things I would love: Trader references/words, mentoring, character growth, Daja discovering her sexuality more, magical workings, a focus on The Circle Reforged era, cameos from the other characters (particularly Briar, Evvy, Lark, or Rosethorn), Daja mind-speaking with her friends

Things I wouldn't enjoy so much: anything super fluffy, because I don't think it fits with the characters or the canon, or ship!fic between Daja and any male character.

White Boots

Characters requested: Harriet Johnson, Lalla Moore

Signup details: I've loved this book for a long, long time, and most of all the relationship between Harriet and Lalla. I would love to see their lives and friendship (or more!) post-canon! I absolutely ship them (as adults) but I would love to see anything about their relationship and its growth as they grow older, whether as friends or realising that they feel something more for each other.

I have so many questions about what happened next after the book ended, if you'd like some ideas: do they both end up doing the things predicted for them at the end of the book (Lalla becoming a show skater and Harriet a professional figure skater), or does something else come along and get in the way of that? How do they deal with their feelings for each other alongside their feelings about their careers? Maybe one of them is more successful than the other, or their careers force them to live far away from each other and they struggle to stay connected, but are able to overcome that in the end... What if Harriet makes it to the Olympics? How would Lalla react?

It would also be interesting to see what would happen if one of them, post-canon, suffers from a major injury or illness, and the other has to balance their own career with wanting to be there and care for them. Plus perhaps realising along the way that they have feelings for each other beyond friendship!

Things I would love: cameos the other characters in the book (especially Harriet's brothers or Lalla's uncle), Harriet or Lalla having to get through difficult times or a crisis and relying on each other for support, a post-canon story, slow-burn romance/UST, descriptions of skating and their feelings about skating

Things I wouldn't enjoy so much: ships aside from Harriet/Lalla, unhappy endings, a plot revolving around embarrassing misunderstandings between them

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Thank you again, and feel free to get in touch with me here or via the mods if you want any more info or clarifications! Anonymous commenting is enabled on this entry :)