11. dear yuletide writer 2020
Oct. 20th, 2020 02:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slowpartsTo my most esteemed Yuletide writer,
Hello! Sorry that this letter is a little bit late, and that you no doubt had to contend with a broken link when assignments went out—anticlimactic at best and obnoxious at worst. For some reason a part of my brain remains convinced that matching takes upwards of several weeks and not, you know, a number of days, as it would when it was being done by a super-fast computer algorithm. Oh well. Here I am! And here you are!
Kind of a strange year, isn't it? I hope that you've been weathering it as best you can, and that it hasn't taken too much from you. I am deeply touched and deeply grateful that you will still be taking the time to write something for me in the spirit of my favorite fandom exchange even with everything that's no doubt going on in your life, and in the world at large. Thank you. I think that this year, more than any years before, I am going to cherish what you create with everything I am.
Above all else, I want to emphasize: No matter what you write for me, I guarantee that I am going to love it. As I said before, I can think of no greater gift than that it is yours and that you made it for me. I mean, how special is that? Indescribably special. So try not to stress or overthink it! I say this without an ounce of condescension, as someone who was cursed by a witch at birth to stress and overthink everything she writes. Including this letter.
Whatever the ravings contained herein may lead you to believe, ODAO! You are not obligated to include any of the things I talk about in here. I only ask that you avoid my DNWs.
And hey, don't feel bad if you need to default. It's valid to do so any year, but this year especially. Be kind to yourself.
With all that out of the way, in we go!
I AM INTO (ODAO): drunken confessions, healing from grief and trauma, the pining-longing-yearning triptych, character studies, ship studies, the 5 times + 1 time format, nonlinear narratives, almost kisses, developing romance, angst with a happy ending, emotional hurt/comfort, fake/pretend dating leads to feelings, snark and banter, found families, FRIENDSHIPS (especially unlikely ones), friends to lovers, seemingly unrequited pining, expansions of canon, WOMEN, unresolved romantic/emotional tension, WOMEN, things like love and friendship daring to exist even in dire circumstances, nature imagery, "What Comes After" as a concept (basically anything post-canon)
I AM NOT INTO (DNWs): non-canonical character death, heavy or detailed gore (minor injuries and violence OK), incest, marriage/pregnancy fic, established relationship fic (with certain exceptions), non/dubcon, first person POV (unless it's epistolary), character bashing, explicit sexual content (there are exceptions, but in general I don't seek it out), angst with no happy ending, actually unrequited love (for any ships I request), high school/college/coffee shop/florist/tattooist AUs, modern AUs (for fandoms that take place in the past/a fantasy world/whatever), NSFW content of underage (which for me is under 18) characters
EXTREMELY OPTIONAL NSFW LIKES: pegging, praise kink, phone sex, somebody's fingers being in somebody's mouth as like a trust thing but also as a sexy thing, cute endearing human clumsiness, face-sitting (and cunnilingus from any angle tbh), guided masturbation, a little blowjob between friends, distraction kink (is that a thing?), sex that leads to an impulsive and quite possibly ill-timed "i love you," sex that is quite possibly more talking than actual sex, femdom
Transistor (Video Game)
What can possibly be said about Transistor that would do it justice? That it is not only the perfect video game, but the perfect love story? That it exemplifies environmental storytelling in a way not seen before or since (by me)? That Red and her boxer are in love? All of these things are true. And yet they do not begin to plunge at the depths of my passion for this game. It haunts me every day.
I'd like to read about their existence, such as it is, in the Transistor. I'd like to read about the things they create, and the things they destroy. I'd like to read about the ways in which they learn to touch each other again. I'd like to read about whether or not they eventually make it out. I'd like to read about the life that they build in this golden, infinite place. Especially if it isn't all idyllic.
I really encourage you to go wherever your heart takes you with this. Transistor is a deeply special game to me, and I just love to see people playing in its sandbox, as it were. I'd love to read your take on it, and on these characters. I'd love to read about Red's life before the events of the game, how the two of them fell in love, ESPECIALLY if it is slow burn and devastating. Red is another character whose rage and grief compel me, and I would love to see those examined, whether you go the romance route or the gen one.
WOMEN WHO LOVE LIKE BEASTS.
NSFW is okay for this fandom!
風が強く吹いている | Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru | Run with the Wind (Anime)
requesting: Iwakura Yukihiko, Kiyose Haiji
I adore this anime and its entire cast of characters! I also so unfortunately find the relationship between Yuki and Haiji to be the most fascinating in the story!
They diverge from and parallel each other in so many fascinating ways, not the least of which is their baggage about their families. IIRC Yuki's father is canonically dead, and that adds such a stupendous layer of emotion and fragility to him and no doubt to the way he relates to Haiji in my eyes. They're both so guarded, so driven, so selfish. And I think that they see each other's selfishness for what it is, where others in the story don't.
I am simply of the opinion that they hooked up pre-canon and that Yuki may still be in love with him. I love that they connect more over the things they're running from than they do over running. I love Yuki listening to sad bastard music and thinking about Haiji. I love them bonding over their parental baggage. I love fraught conversations in the bath or the kitchen or the driveway. I love a kiss that changes everything. I love friends with benefits who catch real feelings. I love hurt/comfort; I love Yuki seeing Haiji's pain before anyone else does and vice-versa. I love that they can both be vicious and hard just as much as they can be kind and tender. I love THE INHERENT ROMANTICISM OF GOING TO A CLUB.
NSFW is extremely welcome for this fandom!
Majo no Takkyuubin | Kiki's Delivery Service
I think I've literally requested this every year and not yet gotten it—perhaps this will be the year! Don't mistake the fact that this is so long for any kind of bias; it's just that it's been added on to every year since 2013.
I am thoroughly and wholeheartedly fond of Kiki/Tombo—their endearing friendship, their slow and earnest romance, the joy they take in each other's company, that they mutually inspire each other... everything. I would love shipfic, but am also totally fine with platonic gen if you're more comfortable with that.
I would be so interested in reading about Tombo learning about magic from Kiki and Kiki learning about engineering from Tombo. The movie's approach to magic, that it's this versatile and incommunicable feeling that any witch can shape to her liking (like Kiki's mother's specialty in potions, or the "snooty" witch's skill for fortune-telling), is one that's so fascinating to me—how it's tied to the spirit, to creativity, to inner inspiration; how when you lose your faith in yourself, you lose your magic, too, because you are your own magic. By the same token, Kiki is a clever girl and I'm sure she could pick up on Tombo's technical approach to flying well enough, but maybe she's insulted or troubled by it? Or maybe none of this happens—maybe she just has to stifle a laugh at how enthusiastic Tombo is about wrenches.
Hearing the input and advice of some of Kiki's friends—Osono, Ursula, Barsa and Madam, etc.—when she realizes she might, oh dear, like Tombo, is a concept I only just imagined this second and it is... adorable.
What happens when school starts up again? Does Kiki enroll and move her delivery business to part-time, or does she forego it to keep up her business and decide to study independently? If the latter, does she start to feel lonely when all of her new friends are gone for the better part of the day? Does she have trouble with certain subjects and need to ask for Tombo's help? If the former, how does that work out for her; does she miss the delivery service and feel out of place at school, like she did on the beach when Tombo's friends appeared and started chatting with him, reminding her, however unintentionally, that she's still something of an outsider? Does she get embarrassed when it turns out that everyone knows who she is; isn't she that amazing witch who saved Tombo over the summer?
I'm not sure if this is breaking any rules, but Nissin Foods did so much to my heart in 30 seconds that it took me 48 hours to tweet it all out in a fumbling and ecstatic tweet thread that no doubt made nearly all of my mutuals mute me, and I am dying to see more of this tiny universe, since it's probably a one-off set-up designed to sell instant noodles and nothing more. I want to know everything! Kiki and Tombo, friends since childhood—how did that come about? How did she end up being the one to fall for him first in this universe; does he feel the same (OF COURSE HE DOES), and if so, when did he realize it? What is the story behind those brief flashes we saw—her gently fiddling with his hair while he slept in the library, letting him borrow her broom as a prop for his Halloween costume; the two of them eating Cup Noodles on a rooftop as it snows, laughing, warm? Maybe his answer isn't what matters—maybe it's everything that got them there.
In general, anything Kiki/Tombo + my Likes list is guaranteed to fill me with joy. I've wanted good, hearty shipfic of them for so long and request them for exchanges constantly and I'm sure everyone is very annoyed about it by this point, but I DON'T CARE I've loved them since I was six.
No NSFW for this fandom, please!
Thank you for taking the time to peruse all of that, and I hope that I gave decent enough details to get you started! If you want to know more about me, you can look at my carrd? And I'm pretty active on Twitter!
Basically, any of my likes + any of my requested fandoms/ships is an instant win. Or, you can just write whatever the hell you want. I will be thrilled to see it regardless.
Anyway, keep surviving. I know that you can.
Much love,
Gwen
Hello! Sorry that this letter is a little bit late, and that you no doubt had to contend with a broken link when assignments went out—anticlimactic at best and obnoxious at worst. For some reason a part of my brain remains convinced that matching takes upwards of several weeks and not, you know, a number of days, as it would when it was being done by a super-fast computer algorithm. Oh well. Here I am! And here you are!
Kind of a strange year, isn't it? I hope that you've been weathering it as best you can, and that it hasn't taken too much from you. I am deeply touched and deeply grateful that you will still be taking the time to write something for me in the spirit of my favorite fandom exchange even with everything that's no doubt going on in your life, and in the world at large. Thank you. I think that this year, more than any years before, I am going to cherish what you create with everything I am.
Above all else, I want to emphasize: No matter what you write for me, I guarantee that I am going to love it. As I said before, I can think of no greater gift than that it is yours and that you made it for me. I mean, how special is that? Indescribably special. So try not to stress or overthink it! I say this without an ounce of condescension, as someone who was cursed by a witch at birth to stress and overthink everything she writes. Including this letter.
Whatever the ravings contained herein may lead you to believe, ODAO! You are not obligated to include any of the things I talk about in here. I only ask that you avoid my DNWs.
And hey, don't feel bad if you need to default. It's valid to do so any year, but this year especially. Be kind to yourself.
With all that out of the way, in we go!
I AM INTO (ODAO): drunken confessions, healing from grief and trauma, the pining-longing-yearning triptych, character studies, ship studies, the 5 times + 1 time format, nonlinear narratives, almost kisses, developing romance, angst with a happy ending, emotional hurt/comfort, fake/pretend dating leads to feelings, snark and banter, found families, FRIENDSHIPS (especially unlikely ones), friends to lovers, seemingly unrequited pining, expansions of canon, WOMEN, unresolved romantic/emotional tension, WOMEN, things like love and friendship daring to exist even in dire circumstances, nature imagery, "What Comes After" as a concept (basically anything post-canon)
I AM NOT INTO (DNWs): non-canonical character death, heavy or detailed gore (minor injuries and violence OK), incest, marriage/pregnancy fic, established relationship fic (with certain exceptions), non/dubcon, first person POV (unless it's epistolary), character bashing, explicit sexual content (there are exceptions, but in general I don't seek it out), angst with no happy ending, actually unrequited love (for any ships I request), high school/college/coffee shop/florist/tattooist AUs, modern AUs (for fandoms that take place in the past/a fantasy world/whatever), NSFW content of underage (which for me is under 18) characters
EXTREMELY OPTIONAL NSFW LIKES: pegging, praise kink, phone sex, somebody's fingers being in somebody's mouth as like a trust thing but also as a sexy thing, cute endearing human clumsiness, face-sitting (and cunnilingus from any angle tbh), guided masturbation, a little blowjob between friends, distraction kink (is that a thing?), sex that leads to an impulsive and quite possibly ill-timed "i love you," sex that is quite possibly more talking than actual sex, femdom
Hades (Video Game)
requesting: Zagreus, Megaera, Persephone, and/or Dusa
What a game! It is very in vogue right now OR SO I HEAR.
More than anything I am absolutely fascinated by the women in Hades, in particular the Chthonic ones. I most certainly haven't 100%-ed the game, but I'm maybe six clears in and have maxed out bonds with Thanatos, Dusa, and Megaera, plus... pretty much everyone except the gods that aren't Artemis-Aphrodite-Ares, in case that helps you figure out what spoilers to avoid. But I don't particularly mind them, and almost certainly by the time the collection goes live I will have made significant progress.
Megaera is far and away my favorite character in the game, and I find her intriguing in every direction. I would love to read your headcanon on her childhood/upbringing (such as it was), how she and Zagreus came to know each other, what her relationship was like with Persephone (it's canon that she liked her!), and most MOST especially what the story is with her and the other Erinyes. I do very much ship her with Zagreus, and am also very much fine with him dating Thanatos as well, you know, As The Greek Gods Would; I also really love her extremely genuine friendship with Dusa. Any kind of Meg character study, pre- or post-game, is something I would eat up ravenously. You don't have to include all my requested characters and in fact I highly encourage you to include her sisters (I could only request four characters, aaaaah). I just love her so much! Her rage, her grief, her love, her weakness, her strength; her pathological inability to cede control! The people who she chooses to open up to, even in the smallest of ways! SUPERGIANT GAMES HAS DONE IT AGAIN.
Barring that, anything exploring friends with benefits MegZag (SFW or NSFW) would be delightful to read. They are both so messed up and so lonely and so bad at talking about their feelings and yet he absolutely fucking adores her and she lets him in despite all her airs and that is me bait if I ever saw it. The inherent romanticism of either of them cradling the other's bloody body in their arms as they die. The tender things they say during those moments. The ACHE.
Or genfic about Persephone reconnecting with Megaera when she returns (or doesn't) to the Underworld!
NSFW is extremely welcome for this fandom!
requesting: Zagreus, Megaera, Persephone, and/or Dusa
What a game! It is very in vogue right now OR SO I HEAR.
More than anything I am absolutely fascinated by the women in Hades, in particular the Chthonic ones. I most certainly haven't 100%-ed the game, but I'm maybe six clears in and have maxed out bonds with Thanatos, Dusa, and Megaera, plus... pretty much everyone except the gods that aren't Artemis-Aphrodite-Ares, in case that helps you figure out what spoilers to avoid. But I don't particularly mind them, and almost certainly by the time the collection goes live I will have made significant progress.
Megaera is far and away my favorite character in the game, and I find her intriguing in every direction. I would love to read your headcanon on her childhood/upbringing (such as it was), how she and Zagreus came to know each other, what her relationship was like with Persephone (it's canon that she liked her!), and most MOST especially what the story is with her and the other Erinyes. I do very much ship her with Zagreus, and am also very much fine with him dating Thanatos as well, you know, As The Greek Gods Would; I also really love her extremely genuine friendship with Dusa. Any kind of Meg character study, pre- or post-game, is something I would eat up ravenously. You don't have to include all my requested characters and in fact I highly encourage you to include her sisters (I could only request four characters, aaaaah). I just love her so much! Her rage, her grief, her love, her weakness, her strength; her pathological inability to cede control! The people who she chooses to open up to, even in the smallest of ways! SUPERGIANT GAMES HAS DONE IT AGAIN.
Barring that, anything exploring friends with benefits MegZag (SFW or NSFW) would be delightful to read. They are both so messed up and so lonely and so bad at talking about their feelings and yet he absolutely fucking adores her and she lets him in despite all her airs and that is me bait if I ever saw it. The inherent romanticism of either of them cradling the other's bloody body in their arms as they die. The tender things they say during those moments. The ACHE.
Or genfic about Persephone reconnecting with Megaera when she returns (or doesn't) to the Underworld!
NSFW is extremely welcome for this fandom!
Transistor (Video Game)
What can possibly be said about Transistor that would do it justice? That it is not only the perfect video game, but the perfect love story? That it exemplifies environmental storytelling in a way not seen before or since (by me)? That Red and her boxer are in love? All of these things are true. And yet they do not begin to plunge at the depths of my passion for this game. It haunts me every day.
I'd like to read about their existence, such as it is, in the Transistor. I'd like to read about the things they create, and the things they destroy. I'd like to read about the ways in which they learn to touch each other again. I'd like to read about whether or not they eventually make it out. I'd like to read about the life that they build in this golden, infinite place. Especially if it isn't all idyllic.
I really encourage you to go wherever your heart takes you with this. Transistor is a deeply special game to me, and I just love to see people playing in its sandbox, as it were. I'd love to read your take on it, and on these characters. I'd love to read about Red's life before the events of the game, how the two of them fell in love, ESPECIALLY if it is slow burn and devastating. Red is another character whose rage and grief compel me, and I would love to see those examined, whether you go the romance route or the gen one.
WOMEN WHO LOVE LIKE BEASTS.
NSFW is okay for this fandom!
風が強く吹いている | Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru | Run with the Wind (Anime)
requesting: Iwakura Yukihiko, Kiyose Haiji
I adore this anime and its entire cast of characters! I also so unfortunately find the relationship between Yuki and Haiji to be the most fascinating in the story!
They diverge from and parallel each other in so many fascinating ways, not the least of which is their baggage about their families. IIRC Yuki's father is canonically dead, and that adds such a stupendous layer of emotion and fragility to him and no doubt to the way he relates to Haiji in my eyes. They're both so guarded, so driven, so selfish. And I think that they see each other's selfishness for what it is, where others in the story don't.
I am simply of the opinion that they hooked up pre-canon and that Yuki may still be in love with him. I love that they connect more over the things they're running from than they do over running. I love Yuki listening to sad bastard music and thinking about Haiji. I love them bonding over their parental baggage. I love fraught conversations in the bath or the kitchen or the driveway. I love a kiss that changes everything. I love friends with benefits who catch real feelings. I love hurt/comfort; I love Yuki seeing Haiji's pain before anyone else does and vice-versa. I love that they can both be vicious and hard just as much as they can be kind and tender. I love THE INHERENT ROMANTICISM OF GOING TO A CLUB.
NSFW is extremely welcome for this fandom!
Majo no Takkyuubin | Kiki's Delivery Service
I think I've literally requested this every year and not yet gotten it—perhaps this will be the year! Don't mistake the fact that this is so long for any kind of bias; it's just that it's been added on to every year since 2013.
I am thoroughly and wholeheartedly fond of Kiki/Tombo—their endearing friendship, their slow and earnest romance, the joy they take in each other's company, that they mutually inspire each other... everything. I would love shipfic, but am also totally fine with platonic gen if you're more comfortable with that.
I would be so interested in reading about Tombo learning about magic from Kiki and Kiki learning about engineering from Tombo. The movie's approach to magic, that it's this versatile and incommunicable feeling that any witch can shape to her liking (like Kiki's mother's specialty in potions, or the "snooty" witch's skill for fortune-telling), is one that's so fascinating to me—how it's tied to the spirit, to creativity, to inner inspiration; how when you lose your faith in yourself, you lose your magic, too, because you are your own magic. By the same token, Kiki is a clever girl and I'm sure she could pick up on Tombo's technical approach to flying well enough, but maybe she's insulted or troubled by it? Or maybe none of this happens—maybe she just has to stifle a laugh at how enthusiastic Tombo is about wrenches.
Hearing the input and advice of some of Kiki's friends—Osono, Ursula, Barsa and Madam, etc.—when she realizes she might, oh dear, like Tombo, is a concept I only just imagined this second and it is... adorable.
What happens when school starts up again? Does Kiki enroll and move her delivery business to part-time, or does she forego it to keep up her business and decide to study independently? If the latter, does she start to feel lonely when all of her new friends are gone for the better part of the day? Does she have trouble with certain subjects and need to ask for Tombo's help? If the former, how does that work out for her; does she miss the delivery service and feel out of place at school, like she did on the beach when Tombo's friends appeared and started chatting with him, reminding her, however unintentionally, that she's still something of an outsider? Does she get embarrassed when it turns out that everyone knows who she is; isn't she that amazing witch who saved Tombo over the summer?
I'm not sure if this is breaking any rules, but Nissin Foods did so much to my heart in 30 seconds that it took me 48 hours to tweet it all out in a fumbling and ecstatic tweet thread that no doubt made nearly all of my mutuals mute me, and I am dying to see more of this tiny universe, since it's probably a one-off set-up designed to sell instant noodles and nothing more. I want to know everything! Kiki and Tombo, friends since childhood—how did that come about? How did she end up being the one to fall for him first in this universe; does he feel the same (OF COURSE HE DOES), and if so, when did he realize it? What is the story behind those brief flashes we saw—her gently fiddling with his hair while he slept in the library, letting him borrow her broom as a prop for his Halloween costume; the two of them eating Cup Noodles on a rooftop as it snows, laughing, warm? Maybe his answer isn't what matters—maybe it's everything that got them there.
In general, anything Kiki/Tombo + my Likes list is guaranteed to fill me with joy. I've wanted good, hearty shipfic of them for so long and request them for exchanges constantly and I'm sure everyone is very annoyed about it by this point, but I DON'T CARE I've loved them since I was six.
No NSFW for this fandom, please!
Thank you for taking the time to peruse all of that, and I hope that I gave decent enough details to get you started! If you want to know more about me, you can look at my carrd? And I'm pretty active on Twitter!
Basically, any of my likes + any of my requested fandoms/ships is an instant win. Or, you can just write whatever the hell you want. I will be thrilled to see it regardless.
Anyway, keep surviving. I know that you can.
Much love,
Gwen
