Dear Yuletide Writer
Oct. 15th, 2021 07:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amphipodgirlFandoms:
Docile – K.M. Spara: any (Elisha Wilder, Alex Bishop, Dutch Townsend, Onyx)
For Real – Alexis Hall: Laurence Dalziel, Toby Finch
Arden St. Ives Series - Alexis Hall: any (Arden St. Ives, Caspian Hart, Ellery Hart, Justin "Ilya" Bellerose)
This is my first Yuletide, and I'm very excited to take part. Thank you SO MUCH for writing for me! I look forward to reading whatever you create, and I'm also delighted to meet someone else who appreciates one or more of the tiny fandoms I've nominated. They are all very small (well under 10 fics) and I'll be delighted for any of them to grow by a story, wherever you take it — aside from the DNWs, everything here is to suggest and inspire; if your fancy heads in an other direction, please go for it! Whatever you write will be lovely. 8^)
Romance novels (mostly queer ones) and fan fiction are what has kept me sane through these recent, very difficult years and, frankly, they've given my libido a new lease on life. I read Carry On near the beginning of shelter-in-place, joined that fandom, and got very involved in reading and writing fic. Over the last year, I've gotten way more interested in some smaller fandoms like the ones I'm requesting. Alexis Hall and K.J. Charles are my favorite authors these days. I've also been blown away by Docile (K.M. Szpara) and The Charioteer (Mary Renault).
In general, I love for a fic to be grounded in who the characters are. If it's an AU, they may be different because of their different life experiences, but still recognizably the same people in some way. Even in an AU, I like the relationships to be canon ones.
I have two AO3 accounts. Gammarus is where I post my nsfw fics (including all the fics I've written in the fandoms I'm requesting). Ampithoe is where I post my smut-free fics as well as all my bookmarks, regardless of the heat level of the fics bookmarked.
I'm amphipodgirl on dreamwidth, twitter, tumblr, and various discord servers.
I enjoy fics at all ratings and sexiness levels. If you like writing smut, I love a good sprinkling of D/s. I also love praise kink, humiliation, fisting, bondage, pain, and orgasm delay/denial (especially of male orgasms). I also like lots of attention to a guy's nipples and it really turning him on.
If you don't want to write smut, I'll love a G or T fic with these characters.
If you happen to be a trans dude, I enjoy fic with transmasculine headcanons for male characters. Enby headcanons also welcome.
For these fandoms, I feel like there's still so much to explore in canon-verse — whether that's pre-canon, canon, post-canon, or canon-divergent. It's all incredibly rich and there are a ton of stories still to be told.
If you do want to do an AU, I'm a huge fan of tropes like fake dating, arranged marriage, and fuckbuddies first. There's something about the romantic and sexual connections growing on a different schedule than the mandated standard one, and about the parties trying to hide or suppress their feelings for each other, that really gets me. I'm also a sucker for Only One Bed, text fics, and soulmates.
I love when people bring their own special interests/knowledge to an AU. Weirdest job you've ever had, period of history you're an expert on, or a hobby some people think you take way too seriously? A cultural background that's totally different from mine? (I'm white, USan, Jewish) I am so here for that AU. Beekeeping AU! Scuba AU! Handcrafted-prosthetics AU! Jeopardy fact-checker AU! Early Umayyad Caliphate AU! Balinese AU! Bring it!
I've tried to give a bunch of ideas here, but if there's something you've been dying to write for one of these fandom/character combos, go for it as long as it doesn't hit my DNWs. The stories that insist on being written are often the best ones.
Docile:
Oh my god. I love this book. It blew me away and was most of what I thought about for something like six weeks. I wrote over 50k words of fic for it before I set it down and started to breathe and notice other things again.
I'm so intrigued by all the layers it holds of what consent is, what it means, what its limitations are... Elisha signs a consent form, and he's attracted to Alex, but he doesn't want the sex, especially not when and how it occurs, but he likes it. Over time his sense of self just gets completely eaten away until he doesn't know how to choose anything — and then his healing process is fascinating too.
And Alex seems like he's really a top dog, can have anything he wants, but it gradually becomes clear how much he was conditioned by his family, and when his parents have him committed we see how little freedom he has to step outside the role that's assigned to him. He really wants to be a good guy, but his initial view of what that means is so limited and even wrong; later, when he sees the world differently, he's all in for change.
I found the non-con really hot. That made me really uncomfortable at first, and I eventually decided that was part of the layering too — Szpara gets us to be kind of complicit in the Docile system when we enjoy that stuff.
If you write post-canon Alex/Elisha having sex, I'd like to see them healing and having a fun,caring, positive time.
When I wrote my post-canon fic, I had them eventually get together after working through a lot of feelings. I'd be interested to see a different post-canon fic in which they decide (in a healthy way) that they don't belong together (but stay friends or otherwise retain positive feelings towards each other).
If Alex permanently gives up his money and power for Elisha, will there be times when he resents that or it's just hard for him, when he misses stuff? I kind of made him a paragon in this respect in What Love Sounds Like; I'd love to see a more realistic, human take.
I'd love to see Elisha bring Alex for a family dinner with Nora, David, Abigail, and Dylan after they've rebuilt their relationship some. How would that go? And in that context or any other, does David Burns ever become less of a dick?
There are a lot of great side characters, too. I have a big soft spot for Micah, who was one of the people who did the most to help Elisha.
I love Nora, who is warm and caring but will also give you the side-eye when you deserve it. Her daughter Dylan's spirit and the way she'll just light into Alex or Jess, not show them any respect she feels they haven't earned — gorgeous. It could be interesting to explore her life at the labs, or do a fic centering on one or more of her visits home during her Docile term.
I think Dutch is fascinating and complicated, and I'd love a Dutch/Onyx/Opal fic. (But please keep to the canon relationships: Dutch involved with both Opal and Onyx, by Onyx and Opal not having a romantic or sexual connection.) I love how Onyx is always ready to name the elephant in the room and tell you exactly what he thinks about it. You don't need to include Alex and Elisha if you're concentrating on this trio.
I also think Jess is very cool, and I'd love to see an exploration of the many talks they had about whether engaging with the Docile system by working for Bishop Labs was the right thing to do. Again, doesn't need to have Alex and Elisha.
If you include Mariah, please make her awful, because I think she really, really is.
I've written two fics for this fandom. One is published; the other is still in beta as of this writing. Feel free to either springboard off it, or go in a completely different direction.
For Real
The first thing I loved about For Real is how the mere combination of command and obedience is hot for both Laurie and Toby, even before you get to any pain, bondage, etc. and how well Hall gets that across. (But I do also love bondage, pain, etc.) He pays such attention to the nature of the D/s relationship for both of them.
I also really appreciate the fact that Toby is the dom and Laurie is the sub but Laurie is usually the insertive partner for intercourse and neither of them sees that as remarkable or contradictory. AJH has written about this, actually: https://quicunquevult.com/books/spires/fr-extras/#sexpectations
I also like how real and human Toby stays even while being a dom — that he can make rookie errors, be silly, laugh at himself, and this generally doesn't reduce his standing as a dom in either his eyes or Laurie's.
I love small, fierce, angry Toby, and I feel for the way he regards himself as being Not Enough for most of the book. I also adore how he insists that this is love and he gets to call it that, whether Laurie does or not.
I really like Laurie, although I spend a lot of the book being irritated with him for not being able to relax, let love in, admit that this is important, treat Toby as he deserves to be treated, let down his walls. I do think it's delightful and telling that, despite all that reserve and distancing, he starts calling Toby “darling” the first time they have sex and never stops.
I love Grace and Sam and the institution of pancakes. I would love a fic about a pancake morning with Laurie and Toby in attendance there. If you wanted to pull in any of these characters from other AJH books I would be beyond happy: Arden, Caspian, Luc, Oliver, Harry, Rosaline, Fen, Alfie, Greg, Ilya, George, Poppy Carrie, Nik. By the way, I picture Grace as looking (and, let's be honest, acting) like River Song (Dr. Who).
I also adore Dom the dom.
If you wanted to ignore the nominated characters altogether and just write some Sherry/Jasper that would be Just Fine.
A few other fic ideas: reverse POV of a canon scene; a post-canon fic where they foster a queer kid who has run away from home; an AU where they meet in a non-kink context (but figure it out anyway).
Do Not Want: Robert, Grandad.
Arden St. Ives
Oh, Ardy! Everyone's favorite disaster pansexual elf. And poor, damaged Caspian. I just want them to be happy!
I love Ardy's positivity, his affectionate nature, his love of sex. I love how he wants to help Caspian and sees (at least some of) what Caspian needs from the very first. Also just his narrative voice — the cleverness, the allusions to every level of culture, the playfulness.
It makes me so happy when Caspian starts to heal and open up. When he asks Ardy to touch him because he loves it even though it's very hard for him — oh. my. god.
There are a lot of side characters I love: Bellerose, George, Ellery, Nik, Poppy Carrie, Ardy's family.
Please no Lancaster Steyne on page!
Here are some fics I would love to see:
A Happy Ever after for Bellerose. I've written one, but I'd be delighted to read your version. This doesn't need to involve Ardy and Caspian, but it might. One way to do it would be to have Caspian and Ilya encountering each other by accident 10 years hence and catching up on each others' lives, or any other way you think works out to Bellerose's satisfaction.
I would love to see Arden and Caspian (and maybe Ellery) go for a family Christmas at Kinlochbervie.
Caspian healing over time and their relationship growing. Caspian edging back into being able to be a dom.
Arden and Caspian on a double date with Toby and Laurie.
I'd like to see how Caspian's relationship with Ellery gets better. One idea is to have Ardy drag Caspian to a Murder Ballad concert.
I'd love an AU where Caspian's dad didn't die. Ardy and a much healthier Caspian find each other.
Caspian taking Ardy shopping for high fashion clothing, like when he lists all the places he could take Ardy after Ardy says that the fabulous silver dress isn't his.
They add another bed to the bedroom in the penthouse so that when Caspian can't stay in the same bed he can stay in the same room.
They take apart the dungeon in the penthouse. What do they do with the furniture and toys? Destroy them? Give them to a public dungeon? Maybe Grace and Sam are creating a play space and they give it all to them. I can't decide whether it should be used in joy by new owners, or just be destroyed because of all the bad karma. You decide and make a case for your choice!
DO NOT WANT: Lancaster Steyne in a canonverse fic. I can't stand the man.
General Do Not Wants
By the way, if you were assigned to write for me because of an appreciation for Alexis Hall, you might be interested in our friendly little AJH discord server: https://lalelilolusworld.tumblr.com/post/633244528602677249/alexis-hall-discord-server
Docile – K.M. Spara: any (Elisha Wilder, Alex Bishop, Dutch Townsend, Onyx)
For Real – Alexis Hall: Laurence Dalziel, Toby Finch
Arden St. Ives Series - Alexis Hall: any (Arden St. Ives, Caspian Hart, Ellery Hart, Justin "Ilya" Bellerose)
This is my first Yuletide, and I'm very excited to take part. Thank you SO MUCH for writing for me! I look forward to reading whatever you create, and I'm also delighted to meet someone else who appreciates one or more of the tiny fandoms I've nominated. They are all very small (well under 10 fics) and I'll be delighted for any of them to grow by a story, wherever you take it — aside from the DNWs, everything here is to suggest and inspire; if your fancy heads in an other direction, please go for it! Whatever you write will be lovely. 8^)
Romance novels (mostly queer ones) and fan fiction are what has kept me sane through these recent, very difficult years and, frankly, they've given my libido a new lease on life. I read Carry On near the beginning of shelter-in-place, joined that fandom, and got very involved in reading and writing fic. Over the last year, I've gotten way more interested in some smaller fandoms like the ones I'm requesting. Alexis Hall and K.J. Charles are my favorite authors these days. I've also been blown away by Docile (K.M. Szpara) and The Charioteer (Mary Renault).
In general, I love for a fic to be grounded in who the characters are. If it's an AU, they may be different because of their different life experiences, but still recognizably the same people in some way. Even in an AU, I like the relationships to be canon ones.
I have two AO3 accounts. Gammarus is where I post my nsfw fics (including all the fics I've written in the fandoms I'm requesting). Ampithoe is where I post my smut-free fics as well as all my bookmarks, regardless of the heat level of the fics bookmarked.
I'm amphipodgirl on dreamwidth, twitter, tumblr, and various discord servers.
I enjoy fics at all ratings and sexiness levels. If you like writing smut, I love a good sprinkling of D/s. I also love praise kink, humiliation, fisting, bondage, pain, and orgasm delay/denial (especially of male orgasms). I also like lots of attention to a guy's nipples and it really turning him on.
If you don't want to write smut, I'll love a G or T fic with these characters.
If you happen to be a trans dude, I enjoy fic with transmasculine headcanons for male characters. Enby headcanons also welcome.
For these fandoms, I feel like there's still so much to explore in canon-verse — whether that's pre-canon, canon, post-canon, or canon-divergent. It's all incredibly rich and there are a ton of stories still to be told.
If you do want to do an AU, I'm a huge fan of tropes like fake dating, arranged marriage, and fuckbuddies first. There's something about the romantic and sexual connections growing on a different schedule than the mandated standard one, and about the parties trying to hide or suppress their feelings for each other, that really gets me. I'm also a sucker for Only One Bed, text fics, and soulmates.
I love when people bring their own special interests/knowledge to an AU. Weirdest job you've ever had, period of history you're an expert on, or a hobby some people think you take way too seriously? A cultural background that's totally different from mine? (I'm white, USan, Jewish) I am so here for that AU. Beekeeping AU! Scuba AU! Handcrafted-prosthetics AU! Jeopardy fact-checker AU! Early Umayyad Caliphate AU! Balinese AU! Bring it!
I've tried to give a bunch of ideas here, but if there's something you've been dying to write for one of these fandom/character combos, go for it as long as it doesn't hit my DNWs. The stories that insist on being written are often the best ones.
Docile:
Oh my god. I love this book. It blew me away and was most of what I thought about for something like six weeks. I wrote over 50k words of fic for it before I set it down and started to breathe and notice other things again.
I'm so intrigued by all the layers it holds of what consent is, what it means, what its limitations are... Elisha signs a consent form, and he's attracted to Alex, but he doesn't want the sex, especially not when and how it occurs, but he likes it. Over time his sense of self just gets completely eaten away until he doesn't know how to choose anything — and then his healing process is fascinating too.
And Alex seems like he's really a top dog, can have anything he wants, but it gradually becomes clear how much he was conditioned by his family, and when his parents have him committed we see how little freedom he has to step outside the role that's assigned to him. He really wants to be a good guy, but his initial view of what that means is so limited and even wrong; later, when he sees the world differently, he's all in for change.
I found the non-con really hot. That made me really uncomfortable at first, and I eventually decided that was part of the layering too — Szpara gets us to be kind of complicit in the Docile system when we enjoy that stuff.
If you write post-canon Alex/Elisha having sex, I'd like to see them healing and having a fun,caring, positive time.
When I wrote my post-canon fic, I had them eventually get together after working through a lot of feelings. I'd be interested to see a different post-canon fic in which they decide (in a healthy way) that they don't belong together (but stay friends or otherwise retain positive feelings towards each other).
If Alex permanently gives up his money and power for Elisha, will there be times when he resents that or it's just hard for him, when he misses stuff? I kind of made him a paragon in this respect in What Love Sounds Like; I'd love to see a more realistic, human take.
I'd love to see Elisha bring Alex for a family dinner with Nora, David, Abigail, and Dylan after they've rebuilt their relationship some. How would that go? And in that context or any other, does David Burns ever become less of a dick?
There are a lot of great side characters, too. I have a big soft spot for Micah, who was one of the people who did the most to help Elisha.
I love Nora, who is warm and caring but will also give you the side-eye when you deserve it. Her daughter Dylan's spirit and the way she'll just light into Alex or Jess, not show them any respect she feels they haven't earned — gorgeous. It could be interesting to explore her life at the labs, or do a fic centering on one or more of her visits home during her Docile term.
I think Dutch is fascinating and complicated, and I'd love a Dutch/Onyx/Opal fic. (But please keep to the canon relationships: Dutch involved with both Opal and Onyx, by Onyx and Opal not having a romantic or sexual connection.) I love how Onyx is always ready to name the elephant in the room and tell you exactly what he thinks about it. You don't need to include Alex and Elisha if you're concentrating on this trio.
I also think Jess is very cool, and I'd love to see an exploration of the many talks they had about whether engaging with the Docile system by working for Bishop Labs was the right thing to do. Again, doesn't need to have Alex and Elisha.
If you include Mariah, please make her awful, because I think she really, really is.
I've written two fics for this fandom. One is published; the other is still in beta as of this writing. Feel free to either springboard off it, or go in a completely different direction.
For Real
The first thing I loved about For Real is how the mere combination of command and obedience is hot for both Laurie and Toby, even before you get to any pain, bondage, etc. and how well Hall gets that across. (But I do also love bondage, pain, etc.) He pays such attention to the nature of the D/s relationship for both of them.
I also really appreciate the fact that Toby is the dom and Laurie is the sub but Laurie is usually the insertive partner for intercourse and neither of them sees that as remarkable or contradictory. AJH has written about this, actually: https://quicunquevult.com/books/spires/fr-extras/#sexpectations
I also like how real and human Toby stays even while being a dom — that he can make rookie errors, be silly, laugh at himself, and this generally doesn't reduce his standing as a dom in either his eyes or Laurie's.
I love small, fierce, angry Toby, and I feel for the way he regards himself as being Not Enough for most of the book. I also adore how he insists that this is love and he gets to call it that, whether Laurie does or not.
I really like Laurie, although I spend a lot of the book being irritated with him for not being able to relax, let love in, admit that this is important, treat Toby as he deserves to be treated, let down his walls. I do think it's delightful and telling that, despite all that reserve and distancing, he starts calling Toby “darling” the first time they have sex and never stops.
I love Grace and Sam and the institution of pancakes. I would love a fic about a pancake morning with Laurie and Toby in attendance there. If you wanted to pull in any of these characters from other AJH books I would be beyond happy: Arden, Caspian, Luc, Oliver, Harry, Rosaline, Fen, Alfie, Greg, Ilya, George, Poppy Carrie, Nik. By the way, I picture Grace as looking (and, let's be honest, acting) like River Song (Dr. Who).
I also adore Dom the dom.
If you wanted to ignore the nominated characters altogether and just write some Sherry/Jasper that would be Just Fine.
A few other fic ideas: reverse POV of a canon scene; a post-canon fic where they foster a queer kid who has run away from home; an AU where they meet in a non-kink context (but figure it out anyway).
Do Not Want: Robert, Grandad.
Arden St. Ives
Oh, Ardy! Everyone's favorite disaster pansexual elf. And poor, damaged Caspian. I just want them to be happy!
I love Ardy's positivity, his affectionate nature, his love of sex. I love how he wants to help Caspian and sees (at least some of) what Caspian needs from the very first. Also just his narrative voice — the cleverness, the allusions to every level of culture, the playfulness.
It makes me so happy when Caspian starts to heal and open up. When he asks Ardy to touch him because he loves it even though it's very hard for him — oh. my. god.
There are a lot of side characters I love: Bellerose, George, Ellery, Nik, Poppy Carrie, Ardy's family.
Please no Lancaster Steyne on page!
Here are some fics I would love to see:
A Happy Ever after for Bellerose. I've written one, but I'd be delighted to read your version. This doesn't need to involve Ardy and Caspian, but it might. One way to do it would be to have Caspian and Ilya encountering each other by accident 10 years hence and catching up on each others' lives, or any other way you think works out to Bellerose's satisfaction.
I would love to see Arden and Caspian (and maybe Ellery) go for a family Christmas at Kinlochbervie.
Caspian healing over time and their relationship growing. Caspian edging back into being able to be a dom.
Arden and Caspian on a double date with Toby and Laurie.
I'd like to see how Caspian's relationship with Ellery gets better. One idea is to have Ardy drag Caspian to a Murder Ballad concert.
I'd love an AU where Caspian's dad didn't die. Ardy and a much healthier Caspian find each other.
Caspian taking Ardy shopping for high fashion clothing, like when he lists all the places he could take Ardy after Ardy says that the fabulous silver dress isn't his.
They add another bed to the bedroom in the penthouse so that when Caspian can't stay in the same bed he can stay in the same room.
They take apart the dungeon in the penthouse. What do they do with the furniture and toys? Destroy them? Give them to a public dungeon? Maybe Grace and Sam are creating a play space and they give it all to them. I can't decide whether it should be used in joy by new owners, or just be destroyed because of all the bad karma. You decide and make a case for your choice!
DO NOT WANT: Lancaster Steyne in a canonverse fic. I can't stand the man.
General Do Not Wants
- MCD
- Non-con except canon-typical for Docile
- Heavy angst
- Underage sex
- Scat, golden showers
- Mpreg
- A/B/O
- Christmas except where specifically prompted
- Death of a parent or parental figure (references to a canon death are okay but please don't dwell)
By the way, if you were assigned to write for me because of an appreciation for Alexis Hall, you might be interested in our friendly little AJH discord server: https://lalelilolusworld.tumblr.com/post/633244528602677249/alexis-hall-discord-server
