Yuletide 2016 Letter

[straightforwardly]

Dearest Writer,

The most important thing that I should mention before I get to my likes/dislikes and canon-specific details is that I do believe that optional details are optional. I do want you to pay attention to my do-not-wants, and would prefer it if you paid attention to my likes, but otherwise, I don’t want to restrain you. Any comments, suggestions, or prompts that I leave are simply meant to inspire.

AO3 Handle: straightforwardly
Previous Letters: 2013, 2014, 2015

General Likes & Dislikes

Likes	Dislikes
quiet &/or subtle romances exploring the relationships between characters canon divergences canon settings worldbuilding hand holding emotional hurt/comfort huddling for warmth/trapped together scenarios unusual formats (i.e., epistolary, interactive fiction, non-linear storytelling, etc.)	porn without plot eye injuries unhappy/hopeless endings kid!fic, crack!fic, mpreg, A/B/O, and complete AUs zombies characters being humiliated character death (of requested characters) requested characters permanently betraying one another

Dragon Friends

Requested Characters: Freezo, Philge, Bobby Pancakes
Canon: A podcast where the plot is the result of a bunch of Australian comedians playing Dungeons & Dragons for the first time.

This fandom is a bit of an unusual one for me, in that I don’t think that I’ve ever requested an ongoing canon for Yuletide, or, indeed, any other exchange. I’m not quite sure what the ettiquette re: new material that’s released after assignments are sent out is, but I don’t anticipate there being anything that I would have a problem with, with the possible exception of one of my requested characters dying, or being paired with someone. If either of those situations happen, please ignore it for your fic.

What draws me the most to this podcast (outside of the fact that it makes me laugh) are the three characters that I requested, and the relationship between them. I’ve previously talked at length about the reasons why, but I adore each and every one of these three, and I’m even more attached to their friendship.

I’m curious as to how their partnership started. How did they even meet? Why are they working together? I feel like there’s quite a promising story to be told there. Or, tell me about other adventures that they’ve had!

Or, if you’d like to write about something set beyond the current campaign, how do they handle Bobby’s increasing werewolf problem? What solutions do they try? Do they go on some sort of quest— maybe for a cure? (If you go that last route, I will say that I have a slight preference for Bobby remaining a werewolf, but am open to persuasion.)

I would also be open to an OT3! I’m...still not sure if I actually ship it or not, but either way, I feel like the beginnings of any romantic relationship between these three would be a glorious thing to behold. And also probably at least a bit of a trainwreck. Would there be really ill-thought out romantic gestures? Pining? Would the pining character in question even realize that they’re pining? ...Does Bobby’s thing for chains come up? Or maybe things come to a head via some sort of trope-y scenario, especially if it’s completely turned on its head simply by these three being their usual selves.

I only ask that, if you want to write OT3 fic, you please don’t go angsty with this. It’s fine if one or more of the characters themselves see this as some sort of romantic melodrama, but I’d rather that the fic itself is more tongue-in-cheek about it if you take that route.

Other minor elements that I really like are their group huddles, Bobby being the (relative) voice of reason in the sea of… Philge and Freezo, the moments where Bobby utterly fails at being a sneaky rogue, Philge’s utter confidence in her attractiveness, Freezo’s tendency to turn to murder as the first solution to anything, Philge slamming Freezo up against any hard flat surface, anything that takes what we know of their backgrounds into account, anything that takes advantage of the minor characters skills that the players tend to forget about, and the indiscriminate use of witchbolts. In the more general sense, I’m also a very big fan of seeing ridiculous scenarios played straight/taken seriously. Also, general shenanigans.

One thing that I very strongly don’t want to see is any of these characters permanently betraying one another. Minor backstabbing (such as when Freezo initially wrote werewolf!Bobby off as a lost cause when he started attacking them) is fine— encouraged, even!— but I really don’t want anything more permanent. I also really don’t want to see any permanent dissolution of either their friendship or their partnership.

I’d also prefer if you didn’t draw any descriptions from the character portraits on the official website— I didn’t see them until I was well into the second season, and, as I’d already formed my own mental images by that point, I’ve quietly decided to ignore them.

One last request: I really, really don’t like potty humor. I realize that it appears occasionally in the podcast itself, but please, don’t include any of that in your fic. Thank you.

A Little Lily Princess

Requested Characters: Lavinia, Jessie
Canon: An f/f otome game based on the novel A Little Princess. It can be purchased here, or on Steam.

I went into this game hoping for some cute Becky/Sara moments, and walked out of it shipping Lavinia/Jessie like mad. I have a soft spot for relationships with dysfunctional elements, and these two certainly have that in spades.

One of the things that strikes me the most about their relationship is that they both have something that they desperately need— for Lavinia it’s acceptance, and for Jessie, security— and they’re both in the perfect position to give one another what they need, but it instead ends up being the cause that drives them apart. Lavinia plays power games with Jessie over whether or not she’ll take her with her as a companion, which pushes Jessie away from her, while Lavinia seems to be unable to trust in the veracity of Jessie’s feelings for her at least in part because she knows that Jessie needs her for security.

Which raises the question— how do things go forward from here? Before I go any further, I should say that, at least for this exchange, I don’t want any fic that’s set during Jessie or Lavinia’s route. I’d much prefer to see how their relationship develops in one of the other routes, where neither of them turn to Sara as the outlet for the problems in their relationship.

Does Jessie ever find out about Lavinia’s mother? I can’t see Lavinia ever telling her herself— how does she find out? And when does she find out? Or maybe Lavinia does tell her herself— how would they concievably ever get to that point?

I think this is a good point to say that I’d be very interested in a fic set after they’ve finished school, and Jessie’s become Lavinia’s paid companion— especially if it starts out with nothing yet improved from where we see them in the game. How would the new situation change the tenor of their relationship?

Basically, how do things work out for them? Because I would like to see things to work out for them. I don’t mind a bit of continuing dysfunction, because 1) Lavinia and 2) I love dysfunctional relationships, but I’d love for there to be some actual communication between them, even if it’s a bumpy, long-delayed kind of communication. I would love Lavinia to see and be able to trust in Jessie’s love for her, and for Jessie to feel secure, and have her love returned. So how could that happen?

I should say that I love how messed up Lavinia is— her intense self-hatred, the contrast between her sense of superiorty and supreme insecurity, her hunger for power, her craving for control and how that leads her manipulation of others, her tendency to cruelty, and her sudden moments of vulnerability. All of the breakdowns she had in Sara’s route were like catnip for me, and I would love to see her being forced to show that same vulnerability to Jessie— especially in a situation where Jessie’s already become her paid companion.

Essentially, I adore Lavinia, and while I would like her and Jessie’s relationship to improve, I definitely don’t want it to end in Lavinia becoming a Sara-like figure. I like her sharp edges, and all the ways that she doesn’t fit in the mold of a Proper 19th Century Lady, and I don’t want her to lose that.

Also, anything with Lavinia and cats can never go wrong. The same is true of Jessie and travel.

Shall We Date? The Niflheim

Requested Characters: Orlando, Jean
Canon: A free-to-play visual novel/otome game on the cellphone. You can see a trailer for it here.

I’m familiar with all of the main routes (though not quite all of the endings), and most of the event stories. If you want to reference something that happened in one of the temporary Grace Point event stories, feel free to do so. I remember the Lovesickness Event and onwards best, though I did read through the Grace Point event that happened before it.

This is a canon that I have a deep and almost ridiculous amount of affection for. I find the worldbuilding absolutely fascinating, and would worship any fic that plays with or builds upon the strangeness of Niflheim. But I also really love the characters! This year I decided to go with a more narrow focus for my request, but I would absolutely adore to see any of the other characters in the cast make an appearance, if you so desire.

I have to admit that when I first started playing this game, I wasn’t particularly impressed by Jean, but that quickly changed, especially after I went through his route. I like the contrast between his ridiculousness and his more serious moments, and how neither is an act on his part. He’s just as intelligent as he is ridiculous. I also love how deep and genuine his love for Niflheim is, and am eternally fascinated by the connection he has with Niflheim. I would love any fic that explored that.

For Orlando, I just really like what a complete bastard he can be. I love his jealous possessiveness, his smiling manipulation, his charming he can be, and the fact that that charming face is an act. Honestly, my only problem with Orlando is that the game itself doesn’t always recognize how dark he can be, especially in regards to his possessiveness— I would be a whole lot more interested in Orlando/Isabella if the game had acknowledged the fucked up elements of their relationship, rather than trying to frame it as an entirely fluffy romance.

For this request, I would be equally happy with ship fic and friendship fic— mostly, I just want more of the relationship between this two. It made me laugh when, at the end of Orlando’s route, it turned out that Jean was less angry with them because his best friend ran off with his fiancee, and more because he felt left out. Orlando’s was the second route that I played through, and while I’d already liked their relationship well enough before, I think that was the moment I was 100% sold on them. I love their bickering, and how they can be genuinely angry with one another, but I also love those moments when you see just how absolute Orlando’s loyalty to Jean is. I also love Orlando’s eternal frustration with Jean, and how it is (at least in my opinion) derived at least in part because he knows full-well that Jean isn’t as incompetent as he plays at.

If you do go the shippy route, I must say that I really don’t want to have a straight-up fluffy romance. Instead, give me something more dysfunctional! I’ve really love a super-posessive/co-dependent take on their relationship, particularly if it starts in the pre-canon era. Basically, feel free to take any of the dysfunctional traits that Orlando shows in his own route— and feel free to dial it up to eleven!

As for some more specific prompts: Loyalty kink! Show me a moment when Orlando uses his charm and skills at manipulation to help Niflheim— and Jean. If you’re familiar with Jean’s route in the “Before We Met” event, then I’d also love anything that deals with that period of Jean’s existence (especially in the context of ship!fic). Canon divergences, from any point in their history with one another. Or maybe something with Niflheim’s never-ending excuses for holidays and festivals! Is Orlando disgruntled because all of the work for organizing the latest one has fallen on him, again? Or something else entirely— there’s no end to the things I want to see for both this fandom in general, and these two in particular.

On that note, the one thing that I really don’t want is a “how they met” fic. I like the history between them, and how that informs their relationship, and really don’t want to receive a fic where all of that is stripped away. Other than that, pretty much everything is game!

I did also request this fandom for Trick or Treat this year, and Orlando and Jean were included in my requests. I’ve reiterated a bit of what I’ve said in that letter in this one, but feel free to also derive inspiration from anything else I’ve said about them in that letter! The same goes for my more general Niflheim request from last Yuletide.

And that’s that! I hope that I’ve managed to inspire you in some way. Happy writing!