Dear Yuletide Author (2020)

[rsadelle]

Hi! I'm excited you're writing me a story! Thank you for taking on one of these requests.

First up, what I do and don't like in fic. In addition to the like/dislike blocks below, I have fic likes and dislikes tags on Tumblr and here on DW. I'm cool with gen or pairing fic, sex or no sex. I've tried to give you a variety of ideas for each fandom if you want somewhere to start from, but please feel free to go somewhere else with your story if there's something else you want to write. I want this to be fun for you!

Likes: Clothes sharing, d/s, women, relationships between equals, people being smart/competent, people acting like adults, they have to get married, cuddling, happy endings, well-structured endings, kids and babies, dialogue, snappy dialogue, people who are practically married before the romance/sex, slowly developing relationships, relationship negotiations of all kinds, kink negotiation, unconventional parenting arrangements, judicious parceling out of backstory/exposition, people making reproductive choices (no matter what the outcome), werewolves, non-creepy possessiveness, polyamorous/polyamorous V/open/unconventional relationships, nonsexual intimacy (sex is also good), power dynamics, feminist themes.

Dislikes: Embarrassment (especially teenage embarrassment), misogyny, randomly inconsistent pov, abrupt endings, endings that throw out the entire premise of the rest of the story, an overabundance of teenage angst, first person narratives for canons that are not originally in first person, infodumps, things that are going to make me feel anxious or full of dread while reading (I like things that are prickly and difficult, just not in a doom is coming or embarrassment sort of way), daddykink (I'm not categorically opposed to it; it's just not a thing I want in a story written just for me), graphic on-screen violence (the aftermath of violence is fine), vampires.

Now on to specific fandoms:



CosTube RPF - Bernadette Banner, Cathy Hay. Okay, here is where I admit that I don't actually know that much about either of these women. A friend sent me a link to the train video, and I promptly added them to my possible Yuletide nominations list. I also gushed about them in a promo post comment. I would read either fic set in the modern day or a historical AU. In a historical AU, I would prefer it if any type of period-typical homophobia (if you choose an AU based on real history rather than handwaved queer-friendly history) is not the focus of the story. This is a fandom where I don't want to read a lot of angst or darkness. Intensity in the form of intense feelings and/or kink is great.

Some specific things I would read:

• Any sort of developing relationship/romance.


• Epistolary fic where all of their work things and logistics are done with modern day technology like email and texting, but their romance is conducted entirely via paper letters/other mailed items. You can see Bernadette sitting down to write an actual paper letter to Cathy here.


• Service kink. Bernadette seems so adoring in a way that seems like she would be very into pleasing Cathy. I would be into her pleasing Cathy in a sexy way or in a non-sexual service kink way. I would be into either something that has been negotiated or an undernegotiated/unnegotiated/kink discovery version. If Bernadette is at some point literally on her knees at Cathy's feet, that would be excellent.


• Historical dress, modern sexual norms.


• A very slow courtship to go with their historical dress.


• How the power dynamics of Bernadette working for Cathy (in either real life or a historical AU) change/affect their relationship.


• If you are not inclined to a romantic story, I would also read a story about their intense friendship.

Quest For A Maid - Frances Mary Hendry - Meg Wright. This is one of my all-time favorite books. I would love post-canon fic. If you want to turn their story into something like a space AU, I would be into that. I only requested Meg because she's the only one I absolutely want in a story, but I love everyone, so feel free to include any or all of the other characters.

Some specific things I would read:

• Meg and Peem's wedding night.


• The power dynamics of Meg and Peem's relationship.


• Meg, Peem, and Davie making their way as quality goods merchants in Bruges.


• Do Meg and Peem have reunions when he returns from traveling, or does she travel with him?


• Meg, Peem, and Davie handling a young man courting Marie.


• Surely Meg and Peem will have children. How do Davie and Marie handle having additional children in the house?


• A successful business will eventually mean Meg runs a large household. Does she think back on what she learned from Mother Alison? How much of her household is run like a Scottish or Norse house versus the style in Bruges?


• Outsider pov. Maybe the combination of the way Peem can make himself look completely harmless and his continuing to call Meg "Mistress Meg" means that some new employee or servant is surprised to find out that they're married.


• Meg's potential for supernatural powers in the aftermath of Inge's death. Do they require worship of the same god as Inge's, or are they a different type? Does she go it alone, or does she find a mentor/teacher? Does she choose not to pursue it but put her knowledge when she knows something is going to happen to good use?

Sci-Regency Series - J. L. Langley - No characters selected. This series is so fun! I nominated Nate, Rexley, Trouble, and Dru; I didn't select any characters because I would be happy with fic about any of them or with worldbuilding type fic.

Some specific things I would read:

• Rexley and Trouble have no issue fooling around because (a) Rexley is so respectable that no one will suspect it, (b) Trouble is very sneaky, and (c) if they get caught they'll just get married early.


• I want to know more about the porn Rexley keeps on the castle computer. What kind is it? Does Rexley tell Trouble about it? Do they look at it together? Does Trouble study it so he knows what Rexley likes? Is it decoy porn and Rexley has even more scandalous porn hidden elsewhere?


• Rexley and Trouble keep trying to have sex, but they keep getting interrupted and in the end their wedding night is their first time.


• Trouble vs. the Regelence wedding tradition. Does Nate give him a plug on the condition that he put it in himself? Does he not get a plug and is very disappointed until Rexley opens him up on his fingers? Does Rexley promise to get him a plug to wear another time? Do Trouble and Rexley compare the pre-wedding talks they got from their parents and/or Rexley's brothers?


• Trouble learning from Raleigh. Is he heading for a life as an IN assassin/secret agent following in Raleigh's footsteps? Does anyone else know about it? Does Rexley know about it from the beginning or does he find out later?


• Nate and Trouble in particular dealing with [obviously relevant to them giant spoiler from My Highland Laird].


• Anything about Nate and Aiden's sex life. Not only do I love the spanking scene in My Fair Captain, but I love how kinky it is that all throughout the series, Nate continues to call Aiden "boy" and Aiden calls him "sir," even in front of other people.


• Threesomes. I know all of the canon couples are so soulmatey that it would take something extraordinary for them to share, buuuuutttt, I would read a threesome story set in this world, either as a one-off or as an ongoing relationship, or even just as someone's fantasy, about any of our characters or even original characters.


• We've seen a m/m Regency world and a m/f Regency world. Surely there has to be a f/f Regency world as well. I would read a story set there. Maybe our characters have to travel there to continue on with the overarching plot. Maybe women from that planet travel to Regelence or Englor. Maybe you want to write original characters from that world.


• Dru! She clearly cares most about her son, but what about her romantic life? Does she take lovers (for companionship or just for sex)? Does she fall in love with someone despite thinking she would never love again? Does she fall in love with a woman posing as a man for Reasons? (I would be into variations of that last one where her response to the woman finally saying, "I'm not who you think I am. I'm a woman," is either, "I don't care. I love you," or, "Yes, I know.")

I hope that gives you some good ideas to start from, and I hope you have a good Yuletide experience! ♥