Dear Yuletide Writer
Dear Yuletide Writer,
Hi! Thanks for writing for me! I'm excited to see what you come up with! I'm katayla on Ao3 and Twitter. You can also find me on GoodReads.
I like shippy fic, but when I say "shippy fic," I also mean fics where my couple is an established relationship and dealing with something plotty. Or sitting around being snarky at each other or having a quiet evening at home. In terms of more specific shippy things, I like secret relationships, fake relationships, outside perspectives, enemies to lovers, forbidden relationships and age differences.
For the most part, I prefer fics that keep to canon levels of violence and sex. The exception this year is for The Black Tapes. I am happy if you tell me more than Alex is likely to on her podcast!
Specific DNWs: animal harm, unrequited love, misunderstandings/miscommunication, cheating.
I've asked for several of these fandoms before (letters under this tag) and if one of those prompts works for you, feel free to run with it! I still want all those things! And I am happy for you to include any characters from any of these fandoms (though please do focus on my requested characters).
This year, I was verbose in my sign up details, so I just copied and pasted.
The Black Tapes Podcast
Alex Reagan, Richard Strand
For a long time, my head canon was that Alex and Strand were in a secret relationship. The last half of the second season made me think, "Okay, probably not," but for the purposes of Yuletide, let's pretend that's not true! So, have they been together from the very beginning? Does everyone know or is it completely secret? Does Nic know and maybe that's part of his motivation for being so adamant that Alex play fair with Strand? I also keep imagining Strand's voice showing up on one of Alex's sleep tapes and THAT'S how everyone finds out.
Alternatively, I'd love to see them as an established couple investigating a mystery together, whether it's one of the black tapes or something unrelated. Does being a couple change their interactions or do they treat each other same, but add make outs? I want to know!
I'm also a Tanis fan--and caught up on it--so if you want to include stuff from there, go for it! (Alex is worried about Nic and Strand . . . Well, probably infuriates her with apophenia talk!)
I'm not sure when the next season of The Black Tapes will air, but if it airs during the writing period, feel free to ignore or include.
The President's Daughter series - Ellen Emerson White
Meghan Powers, Preston Fielding
I don't ask for this every year, but it'll probably keep popping up until Ellen Emerson White writes me a book confirming Meg and Preston are together (okay, and maybe after that, too).
For these two I'd love established relationship fic! They're going to make an awesome power couple, right? But what form does it take? Does Meg run for office, with Preston managing her campaign? Or does she end up behind the scenes? Is that choice hard for her? Or maybe one of her brothers gets in trouble and they have to deal with that. (Maybe it's not even trouble. Maybe one of them comes to them for advice. Maybe Steve comes and yells at them because he's STILL in the public eye and do they have to keep making the press write about them?)
I'm also pretty fascinated by how aware Meg was of the press's awareness of them in the fourth book. Do they try to sneak around when they first get together? If they do, does Meg's family know? Or are they completely open from the beginning?
Betsy-Tacy Series - Maud Hart Lovelace
Katie Kelly, Leo
So Leo just suddenly shows up in one book and then it's always "Katie and Leo." And I want to know more! How did they meet? Was it at school or somewhere else? Was it love at first sight? It kind of seems like it because, again, we never heard about him until it became "Katie and Leo" all the time. Did they ever fight? Break up? Sit around and gossip about Tacy and Harry?
I'm also interested in Katie in general. I like how practical she is. And I LOVE that line in one of the early books about how everyone, even "big boys" minded Katie. She doesn't seem to dream of the "Great World" like her best friend, Julia. Is that true or does she have ambitions the books don't tell us about? Either way, how does that affect her friendship with Julia? (If you go this route, I'm okay if you don't include Leo.)
The Hating Game - Sally Thorne
Joshua Templeman, Lucy Hutton
I want to know about the strawberry farm! I'd love to see their first visit together. Does Josh love it as much as he expects? Does Lucy's parents call him the right name? OR go way in the future when the strawberry farm is old hat to Josh. Maybe they go there with their kids? And how does Josh's shyness play into meeting Lucy's parents? I really loved Lucy's realization that he's shy because, yeah, I feel Josh. Family events are HARD. Maybe it's better with Lucy's family?
Career stuff could be fun, too! They're professional rivals now, right? I imagine them having a lot of fun competing against each other. How do their games work when they're a couple and no longer working for the same company? (Please keep this lighthearted!)
Pitch
Ginny Baker
I'm a Mariners fan and the Padres are our "bitter rivals." In other words, MLB decided we were "natural rivals" and both fanbases have a lot of fun not taking it seriously. Something dealing with that would be awesome! Do the players know about it? Do they find out and start taking it actually seriously? (If this intrigues you, please google Vedder Cup. You can make the Mariners lose--it's what they do--but please don't hurt Felix Hernandez)
I was excited about this show from the beginning, but I didn't realize just how much it would mean to me. I'm a female baseball fan and I've been lucky enough not to encounter overt sexism, but, well, the sport is full of men. So it means a lot to see a woman playing it. (I also love that her manager is a woman.) And I like that show seems to know that. We get to see women rooting for Ginny and little girls asking for her autograph. What about a chorus type fic from all those POVs? (I'm okay if Ginny doesn't make a physical appearance if you write this.) And how does Ginny deal with this? Is this something she and her dad talked about?
Please feel free to either ignore or include anything from episodes that air between now and reveals!.
Psy-Changeling - Nalini Singh
Nikita Duncan, Anthony Kyriakus
I started shipping this really early on because of how much both characters care about their daughters. I'm so excited that canon seems to be heading in that direction! But I want moooooore.
I'd love to see your take on a shippy moment between them. Something like holding hands--or just touching hands!!--would be a pretty big deal for two adults who grew up in Silence. And kissing?!?! Could they even imagine doing that? (Maybe Anthony could?)
Outsider POV would also be really awesome. I'd be so here for 1000 words of other character's gossiping about them (Nikita and Anthony don't have to physically appear if you do this). (But they'd both know about the gossiping, right? Nikita especially does her best to know everything about everything.) Or maybe Anthony POV? The last book gave us some insight into what Nikita thinks about him, but what about Anthony? Is he in denial or does he know they're totally in love?
Looking forward to December 24 (TIMEZONES!),
Katayla
Hi! Thanks for writing for me! I'm excited to see what you come up with! I'm katayla on Ao3 and Twitter. You can also find me on GoodReads.
I like shippy fic, but when I say "shippy fic," I also mean fics where my couple is an established relationship and dealing with something plotty. Or sitting around being snarky at each other or having a quiet evening at home. In terms of more specific shippy things, I like secret relationships, fake relationships, outside perspectives, enemies to lovers, forbidden relationships and age differences.
For the most part, I prefer fics that keep to canon levels of violence and sex. The exception this year is for The Black Tapes. I am happy if you tell me more than Alex is likely to on her podcast!
Specific DNWs: animal harm, unrequited love, misunderstandings/miscommunication, cheating.
I've asked for several of these fandoms before (letters under this tag) and if one of those prompts works for you, feel free to run with it! I still want all those things! And I am happy for you to include any characters from any of these fandoms (though please do focus on my requested characters).
This year, I was verbose in my sign up details, so I just copied and pasted.
The Black Tapes Podcast
Alex Reagan, Richard Strand
For a long time, my head canon was that Alex and Strand were in a secret relationship. The last half of the second season made me think, "Okay, probably not," but for the purposes of Yuletide, let's pretend that's not true! So, have they been together from the very beginning? Does everyone know or is it completely secret? Does Nic know and maybe that's part of his motivation for being so adamant that Alex play fair with Strand? I also keep imagining Strand's voice showing up on one of Alex's sleep tapes and THAT'S how everyone finds out.
Alternatively, I'd love to see them as an established couple investigating a mystery together, whether it's one of the black tapes or something unrelated. Does being a couple change their interactions or do they treat each other same, but add make outs? I want to know!
I'm also a Tanis fan--and caught up on it--so if you want to include stuff from there, go for it! (Alex is worried about Nic and Strand . . . Well, probably infuriates her with apophenia talk!)
I'm not sure when the next season of The Black Tapes will air, but if it airs during the writing period, feel free to ignore or include.
The President's Daughter series - Ellen Emerson White
Meghan Powers, Preston Fielding
I don't ask for this every year, but it'll probably keep popping up until Ellen Emerson White writes me a book confirming Meg and Preston are together (okay, and maybe after that, too).
For these two I'd love established relationship fic! They're going to make an awesome power couple, right? But what form does it take? Does Meg run for office, with Preston managing her campaign? Or does she end up behind the scenes? Is that choice hard for her? Or maybe one of her brothers gets in trouble and they have to deal with that. (Maybe it's not even trouble. Maybe one of them comes to them for advice. Maybe Steve comes and yells at them because he's STILL in the public eye and do they have to keep making the press write about them?)
I'm also pretty fascinated by how aware Meg was of the press's awareness of them in the fourth book. Do they try to sneak around when they first get together? If they do, does Meg's family know? Or are they completely open from the beginning?
Betsy-Tacy Series - Maud Hart Lovelace
Katie Kelly, Leo
So Leo just suddenly shows up in one book and then it's always "Katie and Leo." And I want to know more! How did they meet? Was it at school or somewhere else? Was it love at first sight? It kind of seems like it because, again, we never heard about him until it became "Katie and Leo" all the time. Did they ever fight? Break up? Sit around and gossip about Tacy and Harry?
I'm also interested in Katie in general. I like how practical she is. And I LOVE that line in one of the early books about how everyone, even "big boys" minded Katie. She doesn't seem to dream of the "Great World" like her best friend, Julia. Is that true or does she have ambitions the books don't tell us about? Either way, how does that affect her friendship with Julia? (If you go this route, I'm okay if you don't include Leo.)
The Hating Game - Sally Thorne
Joshua Templeman, Lucy Hutton
I want to know about the strawberry farm! I'd love to see their first visit together. Does Josh love it as much as he expects? Does Lucy's parents call him the right name? OR go way in the future when the strawberry farm is old hat to Josh. Maybe they go there with their kids? And how does Josh's shyness play into meeting Lucy's parents? I really loved Lucy's realization that he's shy because, yeah, I feel Josh. Family events are HARD. Maybe it's better with Lucy's family?
Career stuff could be fun, too! They're professional rivals now, right? I imagine them having a lot of fun competing against each other. How do their games work when they're a couple and no longer working for the same company? (Please keep this lighthearted!)
Pitch
Ginny Baker
I'm a Mariners fan and the Padres are our "bitter rivals." In other words, MLB decided we were "natural rivals" and both fanbases have a lot of fun not taking it seriously. Something dealing with that would be awesome! Do the players know about it? Do they find out and start taking it actually seriously? (If this intrigues you, please google Vedder Cup. You can make the Mariners lose--it's what they do--but please don't hurt Felix Hernandez)
I was excited about this show from the beginning, but I didn't realize just how much it would mean to me. I'm a female baseball fan and I've been lucky enough not to encounter overt sexism, but, well, the sport is full of men. So it means a lot to see a woman playing it. (I also love that her manager is a woman.) And I like that show seems to know that. We get to see women rooting for Ginny and little girls asking for her autograph. What about a chorus type fic from all those POVs? (I'm okay if Ginny doesn't make a physical appearance if you write this.) And how does Ginny deal with this? Is this something she and her dad talked about?
Please feel free to either ignore or include anything from episodes that air between now and reveals!.
Psy-Changeling - Nalini Singh
Nikita Duncan, Anthony Kyriakus
I started shipping this really early on because of how much both characters care about their daughters. I'm so excited that canon seems to be heading in that direction! But I want moooooore.
I'd love to see your take on a shippy moment between them. Something like holding hands--or just touching hands!!--would be a pretty big deal for two adults who grew up in Silence. And kissing?!?! Could they even imagine doing that? (Maybe Anthony could?)
Outsider POV would also be really awesome. I'd be so here for 1000 words of other character's gossiping about them (Nikita and Anthony don't have to physically appear if you do this). (But they'd both know about the gossiping, right? Nikita especially does her best to know everything about everything.) Or maybe Anthony POV? The last book gave us some insight into what Nikita thinks about him, but what about Anthony? Is he in denial or does he know they're totally in love?
Looking forward to December 24 (TIMEZONES!),
Katayla