Dear Yuletide Author

[eirenical]

First and foremost, I'd like to offer up a huge "Thank You!!" to you for writing a story for me. I know how difficult it can be to put any part of your creative process into the hands of another individual, so I will do my best to treat that trust with the care and respect it deserves. ^_^

AO3: eirenical (chibi1723)
tumblr: eirenical

Rating and kink:
Any rating can fly. Really. Any rating. And for shipfic, my general preferences tend towards slash or femslash and/or polyamory. ^_^

As for kink, if you’d like to write something on the higher end of the rating scale, I'll specify within specific fandoms if there are any particular kinks I might be interested in. (If you'd like to include a kink and you aren't sure I'll be OK with it, please ask the mods to contact me and ask. I'm pretty approachable and I really won't mind being spoiled with something like that. If anything, it will only heighten my gleeful anticipation. ^_^)

General likes and dislikes:
Likes:
I like fluff. I like angst. I like hurt/comfort (emotional or physical) and sickfic. I like found family stories. I like shipfic. I like plotty fic. I like long fic. I like short fic. I like character studies. I like AUs of the "What if?" variety (i.e. what if character A had made a different decision here; what if character B hadn't died). I like explorations of things beyond canon (i.e. continuations of canon, deeper explorations of things only mentioned in passing in canon, expanding on the stories of minor characters, backstories, etc.).

I like a whole lot more than that, but in the interest of not writing a 20,000 word letter, here's the punch line to all of this babbling: what draws me to fandom is the characters and the interactions between them. So, if you keep the story focused on the characters, I'll generally be happy with whatever other plot trappings fall around them. ^_^

DNWs (do not wants):
1) I prefer to keep other kinds of AUs (i.e. coffeehouse AUs, high school AUs, etc.) to my larger fandom explorations. For exchanges, I prefer to stay closer to actual canon.
2) I have a huge fealty/loyalty kink, and discussions of infidelity/cheating/going behind someone's back/etc., make me highly uncomfortable. So, if you could avoid that kind of thing, I'd appreciate it.
3) I have a huge embarrassment/public humiliation squick, so if you could avoid that, I'd be grateful.
4) I’m a veterinarian and an animal lover and any talk of animal abuse or animal death makes me really upset. So, if there are any animals in your stories, I’d appreciate it if none of them were hurt or killed, and that they are all treated with care and respect. Thanks!
5) The following kinks: Age play/infantalism, scat, watersports, a/b/o dynamics/omegaverse. Basically, if I haven't listed it as something I'd like for a particular story, please just don't include it. Thanks!

Specific Requests:

You are free to utilize any prompt I toss out there or none of them. If reading what I like about the characters/worlds sparks a fic idea in your head, feel free to ignore the prompts and run with it. ^_^

Also, length of babble in no way indicates my fandom preferences. (i.e., some of these I literally just finished a full re-up of canon before sign-ups so I ended up having a LOT more to say about those canons than some of the others, but it in no way means that I care less about the others. Some are just fresher in my mind.) I promise I’m equally excited about the possibility of all of these requests. ^_^

1. All Seeing Eye - Rob Thurman
Characters: Hector Allgood, Jackson Lee Eye

OK, the first thing I should say about this canon is that I really enjoy all of the other nominated characters (Abigail "Abby" (All Seeing Eye), Meleah Guerrera), as well, and if you want any of them to make appearances, I’m more than good with that. ^_^ So why request this particular set of characters?

One of the most compelling parts of the book to me is the enemies-to-friends(-to-lovers? ^_~) thing going on between Jackson and Hector. I absolutely love the entire arc of their developing friendship from angry and antagonistic to deep-seated trust and practical co-dependency. Anything that looks at that friendship (or romance, if you want to look at it that way!) through that lens is something I’d really enjoy.

Specific prompts:

• I mentioned in my likes that hurt/comfort is one of my favorite tropes? This relationship is PERFECT for it if that’s something you’re into writing. ^_^ (I mean… at least half the book is Hector/Jackson hurt/comfort. ;D) So, something where Jackson’s powers get him into trouble (i.e., coming into contact with something someone died on violently) and Hector having to take care of him while he puts himself back together would be right up my alley. ^____^
  
• And again, if you’re slash minded, we know that Jackson and Hector once had a really awkward conversation about why Jackson doesn’t have sex. Do they ever try it? What do they do to try to get around the whole overly enforced intimacy? Do they end up in a relationship where they’re platonically intimate but not having sex? Hell, do they ever even manage to sleep in the same bed, for that matter? Inquiring minds want to know!)
  
• The other thing that I really love about this book is the way it ends. I love that Jackson has started to open himself up to other people. I love that he has a second chance to do right by Tess. I love that he’s built this family for himself out of nothing and completely against the odds. And I would love to see what happens from there. The adventures of Jackson raising Tess, for instance. What’s it like for him and his powers living with another person? What’s it like for someone who didn’t have ANY kind of a healthy childhood to try to raise a child? The punch line is that I’d love to see a little more of Jackson’s happy-ever-after (and how Hector fits into that happy-ever-after). ^_^
  
• Again, if slash is a thing you’re into, I wouldn’t mind seeing how Hector fits into that future situation, either. ^_^ Because if anything is more likely to be awkwardly adorable than Jackson trying to raise a child, it’s Jackson and Hector trying to raise a child. ;D
  
• I also mentioned that I wouldn’t mind the other nominated characters making an appearance, so here are some thoughts about that - there was NOT enough Abby in the book. Not anywhere near enough. She’s been Jackson’s only family for years-how does SHE fit into the happy ever after? She’s canonically bi/pan-sexual (never specified) - if Hector ends up with Jackson, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing a little Abby/Meleah on the side! ^_^
  
• For that matter, if you are not slash minded, I do enjoy Hector/Meleah, so how do the two of them fit into Jackson’s life post-Tess adoption? Do they have children of their own and do they and Jackson end up leaning on each other to commiserate about parenting problems? (I mean, couldn’t you just see it? “Jackson, the baby’s been crying non-stop for three hours, for the love of all that’s holy, please touch them and tell us what’s wrong, WE BEG YOU.” ;D

Yuleporn prompts:

• As mentioned above, Jackson and Hector once had a really awkward conversation about why Jackson doesn’t have sex (he's a very powerful touch-postcognitive; so that much skin on skin contact generally gives him WAY too much information about his partner). So, I wonder... do Hector and Jackson ever try it? What do they do to try to get around the whole overly enforced intimacy of Jackson's gift? ...or not? How does that play out in bed? Do they end up in a relationship where they’re platonically intimate but not having sex?
  
• For that matter... what might they do instead, if Jackson can't stand to be in physical contact during sex? Maybe some toys and voyeurism are involved? Maybe Hector invests in lots of latex gloves so that fingering and/or fisting can be options? All of these are fair game! ;D

2. Black Jewels - Anne Bishop
Characters: Rainier (Black Jewels)

I just did a full re-read of the entire Black Jewels series this year and was reminded of how much I absolutely adore Rainier… and how I feel that he kind of got the short end of the stick in many, many ways. Either way, though, I just really, really love him and would love to see more of him. ^_^ I also have no objection to the other characters in the tagset (Daemon Sadi, Jaenelle Angelline, Karla (Black Jewels), Saetan SaDiablo, Surreal SaDiablo) making appearances in the story.

Prompts:

• Anne Bishop is really, pretty good about including queer characters… but she’s frustratingly equally good at insuring that they end up in heteronormative-looking relationships in the end. I mean, I actually really do enjoy the close queerplatonic relationship that Rainier and Surreal end up in… but Rainier is the only openly gay character in the entire series and there is SO MUCH POTENTIAL for interesting fic down that road! Rainier is a dark-Jeweled Warlord Prince. What kind of man might he fall in love with? How would that play out within the context of Court and caste? Would he be another Warlord Prince? Someone of a lesser caste? Darker Jewel or lighter? What is that power dynamic like either out of bed or in bed? i.e., I could see a younger Rainier, who’s always been feared by those he loved, enjoy having a more powerful partner who wasn’t afraid of him and could meet him strength for strength in every way or an older Rainier, who is finally secure in who he is, embracing the fact that he gets to be the strong protector for someone else. (I would be OK with you using a character from canon for these or making up an OMC.) Really, just the whole question of how a same sex relationship would work among the Blood, given how strictly the gender roles are defined, really fascinates me, so any exploration of that would be welcome. ^_^
  
• Rainier and Surreal ARE really close and I love that partnership-so how might a potential husband for Rainier fit into that? Is there friction? Jealousy? Or do they fall into a happy little puppy pile (i.e., if you’re into Sense8 at all, maybe this falls out in a Lito/Hernando + Daniela way-all three live together in a happy little found family and Daniela may occasionally watch the other two having sex, but while all three of them are platonically intimate and tend to puppy pile, she’s never sexually intimate with either of them.)?
  
• Good grief, could you just imagine Jaenelle and the coven trying to play matchmaker for Rainier? It would either go really well or be a complete disaster, but either way it would be hilarious. XD
  
• I DO love Rainier and Surreal’s relationship, so if you want to include her, too, I’m totally down for that. I mean… that moment in Dreams Made Flesh when Daemon describes how devastated she was when Rainier died? OH GOSH, THAT DEPTH OF FEELING. TT^TT So, yeah, I would love a story about the two of them. You want to go full-on angst and explore that time when Rainier was getting older and Surreal knew she was going to lose him? I’m up for that. Did he stick around afterwards and become a demon? That could be fun, too. I’d also love to see some happy, cozy times in their relationship-like when they ended up snuggled up reading and laughing together that one time, thanks to Daemon’s interference.
  
• I’d also love to see some of Rainier’s backstory fleshed out. We know that his family is super uncomfortable around him-not because he prefers men, but because he wears dark Jewels. He goes into (and comes back from) any visit with said family looking emotionally bruised and battered. What was it like for him to grow up in a family that didn’t understand how to deal with dark Jeweled males? Did he ever lash out to protect someone in his family and then get punished for it? What was it like for him growing up and knowing that everyone he loved was afraid of him? How did that change as he got older and made the Offering? When he joined the Dark Court?
  
• On the happier side of backstory, we know that he became the coven’s dance instructor that summer they all spent at the Hall. What was THAT like? To finally be around people who weren’t afraid of him? After so many years of being the most powerful, most dangerous person in his home, what was it like to be one of many?
  
• For that matter, did Rainier have any crushes on the boyos? Any fumbling adolescent experiences? How precious would that be? ^_^
  
• Rainier’s injury. TT^TT On the one hand, I love a good wallow in the darker emotions, especially things like the driving self-hatred he has going on after he gets hurt. So I’d enjoy a closer look at that, too.
  
  3. Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
  Characters: Bran Davies (Dark Is Rising), Will Stanton
  
  I don’t remember exactly when I first read these books, but they’ve been perennial favorites for some time. I’ve been meaning to request them for Yuletide for years and keep managing to forget. NOT THIS YEAR. Anyway, what I love about them is that old-time myth and legend feel and how connected they feel to autumn and winter for me. I honestly can’t even put it into words. Suffice to say, I love them, and every time I come back to them, they still manage to feel fresh and new, like I remember the overall shape of them but the details blur between readings. As such, I haver fewer plot-related prompts to offer, as I’m still in the middle of my current reread, but if there’s something specifically plot-related you want to explore, I’m totally down for that, too.
  
  I’ll also be up front about this: I ship Bran and Will a LOT. It’s that deep, almost mystical connection between the two of them that exists from the moment they meet that utterly captivates me. However, if you’re more into exploring that on a platonic/gen level, I’m down for that, too. ^_^ As mentioned in the general likes/dislikes section, I also have a HUGE fealty/loyalty kink, and Will and Bran definitely have a healthy helping of that going on. It may look different because this is modern day, but it’s clear in many of their interactions that Will kind of… belongs to Bran, very much in a king/vassal kind of way. He has all this power at his beck and call, and you just get the feeling that nothing would make him happier than to lay that all at Bran’s feet for whatever he needs. Very “command me and I’m yours,” and I LOVE that dynamic. Not so sure I’d be into that playing out in a sexual way, though, if you want to take this in a shippy direction. I like them on more equal footing when it comes to relationship explorations.
  
  Prompts:
  
  • One of the saddest things about the DiR books to me is how everyone but Will just… forgets, leaving him to carry that memory all on his own. It feels especially tragic to me because asking children to make a choice like that-that will affect their entire lives going forward-really isn’t fair. After all, the choice a child would make in those circumstances might vary significantly from the choice an adult would make. So, even though I’ve read about a million of them already, I never tire of the “Bran gets a do-over at remembering and reconnects with Will” idea. ^_^ Whether they’ve been friends and Will has just had to be careful what he says and does and now no longer has to or whether Will has stayed mostly away from Bran to keep him safe and his memory loss intact and now no longer has to, I just love that whole reunion trope idea, however you want that to play out. And I’d be happy to see this play out in a shippy way, but am totally cool with gen on this one, too.
    
  • Speaking of tropes… I love all that time these two spend in the Welsh countryside on Clwyd farm and there is so much potential for tropey goodness there. ^_^ Trapped on the mountain in a storm and find shelter in a cave/abandoned cottage/what-have you? Blanket scenarios? Someone gets injured/sick and has to be nursed back to health? (Bonus points if it’s Will, since he’s normally the one expected to fix everything? ^_~) I am totally down for all of these things.
    
  • And speaking of Will being ill-I’m also kind of fascinated by that bit at the beginning of the Grey King when Will is very seriously ill (and Merriman hints that he was even sicker than he seemed, which much have been pretty bad considering how sick he WAS O_o;;;) and ends up losing all memory of having been an Old One, even if only temporarily. Maybe that happens again? And maybe Bran is aware that something is very, very wrong with Will afterwards, but he doesn’t know what. Because even if Bran doesn’t have conscious memory of the Dark and Light, Will is always just a bit odd because of it and Bran must pick up on that… until suddenly he isn’t. What happens then? Does losing his memory get him over any resistance he might have had to finally make something happen with Bran? Does Will get his memory back? How? And if so, how does he feel about that? Does he take it in stride? Is he disappointed? Does it mess up whatever he might have started with Bran? Does this push Will into finding a way to give Bran another crack at that choice? Like I said, there is so much potential with something like this and it fascinates me, so… ^_^
    
  • And what about Will? For an Old One, he’s so, so young in the books. When the others leave he has some idea of what that will mean for him… but he can’t really know. What happens when he finally gets it? Finally realizes how alone he’s going to be, for all eternity, really. An angst-filled look at what that realization looks like could be fun. ^_^ For that matter, what does that look like 100 years from now? 1000 years? (I’m also a sucker for reincarnation AUs, so if you wanted to look at a Will who’s been alone for a very long time and suddenly gets Bran back in some way, shape or form, that could also be a lot of fun. ^_^)
    
  • MORE tropey goodness-I’m a bit in love with all things autumn and winter and snug and cozy. I’d be over the moon happy with even just a slice-of-life, post-canon, post-get-together fic where everything is happy and they’re living in a cottage together on a farm with dogs and sheep and Bran playing the harp and fires in fireplaces and cuddling on couches and just BEING HAPPY. Like, full on winter Yuletide cliched goodness. Or a slow day of lazy cuddling and sex? TOTALLY here for that, too.
    
  • I also love how Will maintains this innocent little boy thing around his family. I’m sure that it’s at least in part because during canon he IS a little boy and it’s real, but he also has this way of pulling an “aw, shucks, I’m nothing important, don’t mind me” thing that is VERY much contrived… until he slips up and reveals the Old One underneath. Around Bran, especially a Bran who has his memories, he seems to slip up CONSTANTLY, almost forgetting he’s putting on an act to begin with. How might that play out if he were introducing Bran to his family? Would any of them catch on? (Paul came close once.) Or would they just think Will and Bran were into some we-don’t-need-it-explained-honest kind of roleplay relationship? I could see that situation going really dark or really humorous depending on the situation. ^_^
  
  
  4. Ephemera Series - Anne Bishop
  Characters: Danyal (Ephemera), Lee (Ephemera)
  
  It occurs to me that I have re-read a lot of Anne Bishop this year and it really shows in my sign-ups. O_o;;; ANYWAY. For some reason, with each passing re-read, I fall further and further in love with these two characters. I am always a sucker for the self-sacrificing types who may angst quietly to themselves but would never even dream of not helping the people who need them. And both of these characters fit into that archetype, though Lee a bit more so than Danyal. More importantly, though, I absolutely love how they manage to get each other past that and form a truly supportive and thriving partnership where both can live fully up to their strengths and potential. And, for the record, I love their canon friendship, but I’d also love to see them romantically shipped, so whichever way you want to go there is fine by me!
  
  Prompts:
  
  • When Lee and Danyal first meet, Lee is blind and thought to be insane, and is thus wholly dependent on those around him. This plays out in some vicious and cruel abuse by his keepers, essentially torture under the guise of caretaking. I’ve mentioned I’m a fan of hurt/comfort and sick!fic, yes? We know that Sholeh and Khobrah are the ones who mostly take care of him, but I’d love to see Danyal in there, too.
    
  • I’m just honestly fascinated by their dynamic all the way through. Once Lee starts to recover, it isn’t long before Danyal starts leaning on him as though he’s another Shaman. Certainly, Danyal’s instincts are pretty damned good, but that’s still a pretty extreme level of trust in someone who is supposed to be mad. It is pointed out to Danyal that he treats Lee like a colleague who is there to rest and heal, rather than like a patient. How did that come about? What was going through Danyal’s mind? How did he finally decide he could trust Lee that much? What tipped the balance?
    
  • Lee, by contrast, has been working himself into an early grave most of his life, and now finds himself forced into a life of leisure. He seems to swing back and forth over how much he accepts that. What was it like for him to find himself suddenly forced to take a backseat after years of being crucial in the fight against the Eater of the World? And once he accepted that he had to step back, was Danyal reaching out to him for assistance more of a blessing or a curse? Was he eager to get back into things or did he resent it?
    
  • Lee is just so, so bitter at the beginning of the book. He’s given up everything for Glorianna, always, and he’s feeling abandoned, pushed aside. You can still see flashes of it in the beginning of his friendship with Danyal. Do they ever talk that out? Does Lee tell him willingly or is it a forced necessity when Danyal meets Lee’s family? Does that bitterness ever really heal or is it just dormant, waiting to flare up into resentment at a time that isn’t even appropriate for it?
    
  • What about after the events in Bridge of Dreams? They have this beautiful new complex and a huge playground for Ephemera to play around in. I just kind of want to know everything about what happens next. ^_^
    
  • A kind of case fic, maybe? They’re going to use the playground to help people find the landscapes they belong in. Tell me about someone’s journey and how they help them on the way.
    
  • Those quiet moments between them. Oh, man. I loved the little walks they used to take with Lee acting as teacher and guide for Danyal, as Lee slowly coaxed him to accept truths about the world that he hadn’t been ready for. Do those talks continue? I just loved how at peace they both were with each other. How does that evolve?
    
  • Both Danyal and Lee were almost starved for friendship by the time they met-Lee because he hadn’t dared befriend anyone and Danyal because, even among other Shaman, he was always different. What was that like to find someone they could finally connect to? Did it ever progress to also include intimacy? Friends with benefits? Lovers? Beloved?
    
  • …does Ephemera ever try to play matchmaker for them in its own awkwardly endearing way?
    
  • For that matter, I’d love to just see them relaxing into that partnership, learning to work together in this new venture of theirs, growing closer over time +/- falling in love… sex. Really, just anything involving the two of them taking care of each other and supporting and appreciating each other. Really, I’ll take anything I can get for the two of them. ^_^
    
    5. Tir Alainn Trilogy - Anne Bishop
    Characters: Morag (Tir Alainn Trilogy), Padrick (Tir Alainn Trilogy), Ashk (Tir Alainn Trilogy)
    
    …I mentioned I was doing a lot of Anne Bishop re-reading this year, yes? Third and last time she appears in the requests. ^_^ SO. I love these three. I just really, really do. I love Ashk and Morag’s friendship, how well they understand each other, how, in each other, they’ve finally found someone else who can match their strength, who wouldn’t be afraid of them just because of who they are. I love Padrick and Ashk’s relationship, how Padrick not only accepts, but revels, in Ashk’s strength but still looks for opportunities to pamper her and show her a little softness, how he loves the Green Lady and respects and follows the Hunter and everything in between. And I love Padrick and Morag’s friendship, how he treats her to that same tough love and kindness that he does Ashk, how he revels in the fact that he gets to stand by her side and see that she’s taken care of, not just because Ashk would want it, but because, in his own way, he loves her, too. I love how he sees so easily that Morag has been starved for simple things like friendship and affection from all but her sister and is eager to coddle her and take of her, but is equally easy with stepping aside and accepting her lead, how he just lets her be who she is, like Ashk. I just love the entire dynamic between these three. ^___________^
    
    Prompts:
    
    • FIX IT, OMG, PLEASE FIX IT. I mean, the ending where Morag ends up getting to grow up as Ari’s beloved wiccanfae daughter is great. It really is. But I’d be even happier if they’d found a way to cure her or if she’d never been turned to begin with. So what happens? How does that get fixed? How do they deal with the close call/might-have-been? Is Morag even happy to be saved?
      
    • Or maybe we just want to skip the how and go straight to what happens next? I would love some happy threesome fic for these three. I really would. ^_^ Whether that’s an Ashk/Padrick + Morag situation or it’s a full-on Ashk/Morag/Padrick situation, I just want more of the three of them and that dynamic I described above. ^_^ For example:
      
    • The war is over and Morag returns to Bretonwood with Ashk and Padrick. Does one of them have to talk the other into wooing Morag or are they already on the same page? How does Morag react? It seems like she, at least, would need some convincing. She’s had too many years of thinking herself a freak and completely undesirable. (I mean, she’s shocked as all get out by Padrick’s appreciation on the journey.) Has she ever even been intimate with anyone? Is she afraid she’ll ruin things? Or do they just click into place like they belong together?
      
    • If we are in happy threesome territory already (either romantically or platonically), what is that like? Some happy slice-of-life fic for them would be lovely. A Harvest Fair, maybe? Helping Ari celebrate the Solstice? A quiet evening at home tucked in by the fire while it snows outside? (We know that Padrick loves petting shadowhounds and Morag has a brand new shadowhound mix puppy to cuddle, so maybe we have a literal puppy pile by the fire? ;D) Padrick and Ashk trying to introduce Morag to the finer points of human life?
      
    • I’d also just love honestly ANYTHING about Ashk and Morag’s friendship. They’ve both been so starved for someone who understands them and doesn’t fear them. Ashk at least has the second in Padrick, and Morag with Morphia, but having someone who understands them is a different thing entirely. I love those moments when they work in such perfect gestalt that neither even needs to speak because they just GET IT. And I love that. I love their friendship. I love that deep level of understanding. I love that recognition in them both, that feeling of “I KNOW you. I get you. Yessssss,” and how as wary as everyone is of each of them alone, the two of them together are just Not To Be Trifled With Ever. I just love them, OK? ^_^ (And I’m OK with this prompt being just the two of them; the only thing I ask is that if you take this down a romantic road that it’s understood that Padrick is included, as well, even if he isn’t present.)
      
      6. The White Mists of Power - Kristine Kathryn Rusch
      Characters: Abington Byron Adric, Seymour (The White Mists of Power - Kristine Kathryn Rusch)
      
      I loved this book so much as a kid, so much so that I think it influenced a lot of the tropes (…and kinks) I now love as an adult. There was something about it that just stuck with me, and I ended up revisiting it so many times over the course of my life that it’s become a comfort book for me. And one of the most compelling parts of the story to me is the relationship between Byron and Seymour. Byron, the charming bard and sometime rogue, who’s being hunted down for pissing off the wrong powerful lord once too often, but is determined to make a secure future for himself and for the people he comes to care about, too (like Seymour), and Seymour, the forever fearful amateur wizard, hunted by the same offended lord as Byron, his greatest crime being to be born the son of a great and powerful wizard… and not live up to his legacy. He wants nothing more than to hide away from everyone and everything and be a disappointment in peace, and yet somehow he and Byron make for the most unlikely of friends, a decision to help Byron being the thing that forces Seymour back into the land of the living, whether he wants it or not. That friendship, rocky though it often is, drives the entire story and I love everything about it.
      
      Prompts:
      
      • There is honestly a part of me just sitting here saying “ANYTHING FOR THEM. JUST ANYTHING. REALLY,” because I kind of proto-shipped these two before I even know what shipping WAS and really just ANYTHING about this amazing, kind of fucked up yet super supportive and somewhat codependent pairing would be welcome. ^_^
        
      • Here’s one of those hurt/comfort prompts again… ^_~ And it could go either way. Byron had a terrible time against Dakin’s hounds and was badly injured by the time he reached Seymour. I’d love to see more about that little idyll of time the two of them spend in the cabin while Byron was injured. Or the reverse, when Seymour was hurt by that spell backfiring. Byron nursed him for several days, knowing that nothing he could do would help, until an Enos finally stepped in. What was that like for him? Knowing that all his charisma and charm and cleverness couldn’t help his friend that one time he needed it?
        
      • As cliched and tropey as it may be (what can I say? I like cliched and tropey. ^_~), Byron and Seymour have to share a bed/sleeping arrangement more than once on their journey. Blanket scenario/bed-sharing leading to revelations or sexytimes between them would be great. ^_^
        
      • I love how at the end of the book, both Seymour and Almathea have more of a care for Byron’s welfare than Byron does, himself. Byron is all but putting the knife to his own neck and writing his eulogy and Seymour and Alma are frantic to knock some sense into him and get him out of this fatalistic, self-sacrificing rut he’s fallen into. What was that time like for Seymour? What was it like for him to watch his friend, who had fought so hard for so long to stay alive in spite of tremendous odds, just… give up like that? Did he try to talk him around? Was there cuddling involved? Life-affirming sex? I’m good with any and all of the above. ^_~
        
      • What about a post-canon story? I know I didn’t request Almathea, but I really do love her as a character and I think she and Byron would be very good for each other… but I’d love to see what would happen if Seymour were there, too. Maybe Alma realizes that managing Byron is going to be a more than fulltime job and she’ll take all the help she can get. Maybe she just comes to see how much Seymour and Byron care for each other, how much they’ve risked for each other, and wants an opportunity to be a part of that. After all, her arrangement with Byron starts out as purely political with Byron assuming that he isn’t going to survive long past the marriage. Maybe she wants something more than that and sees Seymour’s closeness with Byron as a way to get it. Or, given Alma, maybe this is a kink thing. Maybe, as much as she enjoys having one man in her bed, having two would be better still, especially if she can get them to put on a show for her. ^_~
        
      • Back to this idea of Byron being a self-sacrificing fatalistic so-and-so towards the end of the book. It fascinates me because, in canon, Byron kind of has this reputation as a pleasure seeking, charming flirt who is only out for himself. And that is… really, really not who he is. And I adore how all the people who love him figure this out and realize that Byron has… kind of a crushingly low sense of self-worth. Seymour, Afeno, Colin (I know he’s not in the tagset, he’s just another example, but if you want to include him, too, that’s also cool), Alma-everyone who actually gets to know him has this figured out and decides that they’re going to do whatever they can to take care of him whether he likes it or not. I’d love to see some of that. ^_^ I’d love to see him figuring out that people DO care about him, not just because of his position, but because he’s him and he matter to them.
        
        Holy cow, as usual, that’s a really long letter. O_O Sorry about that, I just tend to get excited. ^_^ Hopefully you found something at least a little bit helpful in there, somewhere. If you didn’t, however, they really were just thoughts and suggestions. So, if any of the details I provided don't work for you, feel free to toss them out the window and write what's most comfortable for you. If you are happy and excited about what you're writing, I'm sure I will love it. Passion comes across and I do not in any way want to dampen yours. ^_^ Go with your gut. The fact that you're writing something for me is plenty enough to have me thrilled and excited and bouncing for joy. ^_^
        
        Happy writing! ^_^
        A grateful recipient
        
        (This entry was originally posted on DW @ https://rchan.dreamwidth.org/258472.html)