Dear Yuletide Author
Dear author,
First of all, thank you so much for offering to write one of these amazing fandoms! I love each and every one of them, so whichever you end up writing, I absolutely can't wait to read your story.
I'm not the most active person in any fandom, so I've put together a few notes in general and on each fandom to help you get some ideas, which I hope is useful to you :D My AO3 name, for reference, is also mk_tortie.
All the specific prompts I've given for each fandom are just ideas - if you're inspired to write something else, go for it! Also, some of the fandom sections are longer than others, but I love each of these fandoms equally and would be ecstatic to receive fic in any of them :D
In General
There are a few things I love to see in fic:
- casefic
- plot-focused stories
- before/after the canon stories
- alternative endings/au diversions
- time travel/time loops
- fix it fic
- canon ships/friendships and friendship fic
- UST
- realisations of desire or romantic explorations, explorations of characters realising they're 'more than friends'
- hurt/comfort (overcoming ailments/injuries to come out on top, painful confessions, stronger/leader character having to accept help after struggling through for too long)
- everyone thinks a friend is dead but then they're not
- dark!fic (permanent injuries mentally/physically, torture, Stockholm syndrome, dystopias, violence... ideally paired with hurt/comfort or with a not-completely-sad ending (ie bittersweet or happy ending rather than 'everything's still terrible'!). Feel free to go as dark as you want!
- long stories (I'm not one of those people who only reads short fics - I happily read everything from drabbles to 100k+ epics, so whatever length works for you, works for me!)
There are some things I wouldn't really want:
- surprise!ships (i.e. non-canon ships in a story with no justification, explanation or background - non-canon ships are generally fine if they have some exposition or explanation though!)
- fluff!fic (ie, a little fluff is fine, especially in a happy ending, but if the fic is fluff throughout with no darker elements I would be a little disappointed!)
- sex scenes/porn as a major focus in the story (long sex scenes are just not my cup of tea)
- crossovers
- PWPs
- gender-bending and/or gender identity as a focus (except when it's canon)
- total AUs (eg hipster AU, high school AU, coffee shop AU...)
- any character bashing
- regional accents written out phonetically
- any kind of plot revolving around miscommunication leading to awkwardness - this gives me major second-hand embarrassment
Things I'm ambivalent about: holiday stories - I'm not against these, but I'm not interested in fluff with no plot, so a holiday story would have to be a story-taking-place-on-a-holiday rather than just characters doing happy holiday things for the sake of it!
FYI, if the plotbunny that strikes you ends up not involving all of my requested characters, that’s fine - for the most part, I don’t mind if not all my requested characters end up in the final fic, unless I’ve really made it clear that a character is my favourite!
---
Near and Far
Characters requested: any (out of Grear, Riza, Shardling, Tanian)
Signup details: I got this game for Christmas last year, and fell in love with the world it portrays and the stories within it. One of my favourite things about the game is the way it hints at all the other events that have already happened through the dialogue with the people and beings you encounter. I played the game as Riza, and developed her to have cooking, scrounging, and meditation skills. However, I’ve requested any characters, because I really don’t mind which of the nominated characters you choose to include in the story - what I’m primarily interested in here is world-building, in the sense of fleshing out some of the storylines that the game briefly deals with.
Some prompts/ideas:
- I’d love to read one of the mini adventures of the game, fleshed out in detail - especially regarding any character’s interactions with one of the recurring NPCs, such as the Red King or Captain Shreya. Give me the emotions and interpersonal conflicts! How do the other members of the party react to the decisions the main character makes? Who gets injured in a fight? What other tough decisions need to be made?
- I’d love to see how the competition shapes up between any of the different nominated characters as they search for the Last Ruin. Which faction do they build alliances with? How does it help them? Maybe Riza mostly joins up with the Lizardfolk, while Grear gets help from the Outlaws.
- it would also be awesome to read about one of the characters at the start of their adventure - just them and their cat, ready to face the world. What’s driving them to go out there? How do they get started? What happens in their first adventure, when they’re inexperienced and lacking in companions? Feel free to use the backstory details from Character mode, but also embellish as you want!
Fandom-specific things I would love: mentions of recurring NPCs such as Captain Shreya, Zag the Treasure Hunter, or the Red King; game mechanics (buying pack birds, camping, only being able to go so far before you have to rest)
Fandom-specific things I wouldn't enjoy so much: a series of short plot snippets like those already existing in the game
---
Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote - Jorge Luis Borges
Text can be found online, here.
Characters requested: none
Signup details: I love Borges, and this story in particular has always stuck with me. My favourite thing about Borges is how much his work messes with my head, and I think that the idea of Pierre Menard is pretty much emblematic of everything I love about it. The narrator/‘author’ of the text takes their task, their subject, and themself so seriously, and yet so much of what they write is so patently absurd. The part of the text where they describe the difference between Menard’s Quixote and Cervantes’ is ridiculous, but also at the same time excellent satire of literary criticism.
I have some prompts (of course!) but I wanted to say, first of all, that I don’t mind if you want to write as if Menard is a real person, or as if he’s entirely fictional, or as if the author of the text thinks he’s real but he’s actually fictional... in other words, feel free to continue blurring the lines between fact and fiction as much as you’d like!
Some prompts/ideas:
- The author of the text seems to have been friends with Menard - I’d love to see letters they wrote to one another, where Menard talks about his literary projects, his friendships, or maybe something else. Perhaps they were even closer than friends?
- What if the author of the text is Menard himself? Perhaps he’s faked his own death in order to reinvent himself even more as the author of the Quixote? I would love to read a Borges-style report or text about this coming to light or Menard leaving clues to his true identity while continuing to work on his text.
- In general, I’d love to read some articles or text snippets about Menard and his various works. Maybe newspaper articles, reviews, letters between the acquaintances and friends mentioned in the text, etc?
Fandom-specific things I would love: blurring the lines between reality and fiction, crack played straight, world building, Borgesian style, mentions of the different things Menard tries to do in order to become the author of the Quixote
Fandom-specific things I wouldn't enjoy so much: anything that’s just total ‘sugar high’-style crack
---
The Witcher
Characters requested: Ciri, Geralt, Regis
Signup details: My introduction to The Witcher was played the 3rd game, and since then I’ve also read all the books, including the most recent one. I haven’t played the first or second game, so I’d really prefer to read a fic set during or after the third game. Including book canon is fine too!
This game, and the entire world that Geralt lives in, just drew me in so much. The world-building is incredible, and the characters are so three-dimensional. I love that the game puts the player in such genuine moral quandaries, where it’s often not at all clear what will lead to the best outcome, or if any of the outcomes will truly be positive.
I picked Ciri, Geralt, and Regis because those are the characters I enjoyed the most in the game, but I’m very happy for not all of them to be featured in the story (as long as you include Geralt!), or for other characters to be included as well. I love the dynamics between Geralt and Ciri, especially in the game ending where he brings her her sword and she joins the path of a Witcher: he wants to look out for her but also support her in fighting for her place in the world. I love Geralt and Regis’ friendship too, and I’m very happy for you to explore a romance between them if you want to!
Some prompts:
- Any kind of case!fic or monster-of-the-week style plot with Geralt plus Ciri and/or Regis would be awesome. I’d especially love to see some Geralt h/c along the way, where Ciri and Regis eventually realize he needs help and have to fix him up.
- Geralt and Ciri go on the road and get caught up in another intrigue or someone else’s plot, and have to fight/scheme their way out - bonus points for affectionate bickering as they work out how to work together as partners
- Geralt and Regis friendship fic - maybe Regis helps Geralt work out how to be retired? I imagine that Geralt isn’t very good at it!
Fandom-specific things I would love: appearances from other characters from the game and its expansions, places from the game mentioned with identifiable details (so locations of buildings in Novigrad, for example), background Geralt/Yennefer (unless you’re explicitly shipping him with someone else)
Fandom-specific things I wouldn't enjoy so much: Relationship drama between Geralt and Yennefer due to him sleeping with someone else (after reading the books I’m fairly done with this as a plot point!), Geralt/Ciri, Ciri/Regis, Geralt/more than one person in the same story.
---
So, thanks again, and I hope my requests haven't scared you off altogether! Definitely take everything I've written here as a suggestion to start off your creative process, not anything prescriptive at all - if you get an awesome idea when reading this, but it doesn't match any particular prompt, then go for it. I'm sure I will love it :D If anything here is really confusing, or you want to know more about my preferences that I've missed/forgotten here, then totally feel free to get in touch via the mods or through commenting anonymously here. I am really looking forward to reading your story, and I know if you love any one of these fandoms you must be an awesome person, so I'm really happy we were matched!
Good luck, and happy Yuletide,
Anna/mk_tortie
First of all, thank you so much for offering to write one of these amazing fandoms! I love each and every one of them, so whichever you end up writing, I absolutely can't wait to read your story.
I'm not the most active person in any fandom, so I've put together a few notes in general and on each fandom to help you get some ideas, which I hope is useful to you :D My AO3 name, for reference, is also mk_tortie.
All the specific prompts I've given for each fandom are just ideas - if you're inspired to write something else, go for it! Also, some of the fandom sections are longer than others, but I love each of these fandoms equally and would be ecstatic to receive fic in any of them :D
In General
There are a few things I love to see in fic:
- casefic
- plot-focused stories
- before/after the canon stories
- alternative endings/au diversions
- time travel/time loops
- fix it fic
- canon ships/friendships and friendship fic
- UST
- realisations of desire or romantic explorations, explorations of characters realising they're 'more than friends'
- hurt/comfort (overcoming ailments/injuries to come out on top, painful confessions, stronger/leader character having to accept help after struggling through for too long)
- everyone thinks a friend is dead but then they're not
- dark!fic (permanent injuries mentally/physically, torture, Stockholm syndrome, dystopias, violence... ideally paired with hurt/comfort or with a not-completely-sad ending (ie bittersweet or happy ending rather than 'everything's still terrible'!). Feel free to go as dark as you want!
- long stories (I'm not one of those people who only reads short fics - I happily read everything from drabbles to 100k+ epics, so whatever length works for you, works for me!)
There are some things I wouldn't really want:
- surprise!ships (i.e. non-canon ships in a story with no justification, explanation or background - non-canon ships are generally fine if they have some exposition or explanation though!)
- fluff!fic (ie, a little fluff is fine, especially in a happy ending, but if the fic is fluff throughout with no darker elements I would be a little disappointed!)
- sex scenes/porn as a major focus in the story (long sex scenes are just not my cup of tea)
- crossovers
- PWPs
- gender-bending and/or gender identity as a focus (except when it's canon)
- total AUs (eg hipster AU, high school AU, coffee shop AU...)
- any character bashing
- regional accents written out phonetically
- any kind of plot revolving around miscommunication leading to awkwardness - this gives me major second-hand embarrassment
Things I'm ambivalent about: holiday stories - I'm not against these, but I'm not interested in fluff with no plot, so a holiday story would have to be a story-taking-place-on-a-holiday rather than just characters doing happy holiday things for the sake of it!
FYI, if the plotbunny that strikes you ends up not involving all of my requested characters, that’s fine - for the most part, I don’t mind if not all my requested characters end up in the final fic, unless I’ve really made it clear that a character is my favourite!
---
Near and Far
Characters requested: any (out of Grear, Riza, Shardling, Tanian)
Signup details: I got this game for Christmas last year, and fell in love with the world it portrays and the stories within it. One of my favourite things about the game is the way it hints at all the other events that have already happened through the dialogue with the people and beings you encounter. I played the game as Riza, and developed her to have cooking, scrounging, and meditation skills. However, I’ve requested any characters, because I really don’t mind which of the nominated characters you choose to include in the story - what I’m primarily interested in here is world-building, in the sense of fleshing out some of the storylines that the game briefly deals with.
Some prompts/ideas:
- I’d love to read one of the mini adventures of the game, fleshed out in detail - especially regarding any character’s interactions with one of the recurring NPCs, such as the Red King or Captain Shreya. Give me the emotions and interpersonal conflicts! How do the other members of the party react to the decisions the main character makes? Who gets injured in a fight? What other tough decisions need to be made?
- I’d love to see how the competition shapes up between any of the different nominated characters as they search for the Last Ruin. Which faction do they build alliances with? How does it help them? Maybe Riza mostly joins up with the Lizardfolk, while Grear gets help from the Outlaws.
- it would also be awesome to read about one of the characters at the start of their adventure - just them and their cat, ready to face the world. What’s driving them to go out there? How do they get started? What happens in their first adventure, when they’re inexperienced and lacking in companions? Feel free to use the backstory details from Character mode, but also embellish as you want!
Fandom-specific things I would love: mentions of recurring NPCs such as Captain Shreya, Zag the Treasure Hunter, or the Red King; game mechanics (buying pack birds, camping, only being able to go so far before you have to rest)
Fandom-specific things I wouldn't enjoy so much: a series of short plot snippets like those already existing in the game
---
Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote - Jorge Luis Borges
Text can be found online, here.
Characters requested: none
Signup details: I love Borges, and this story in particular has always stuck with me. My favourite thing about Borges is how much his work messes with my head, and I think that the idea of Pierre Menard is pretty much emblematic of everything I love about it. The narrator/‘author’ of the text takes their task, their subject, and themself so seriously, and yet so much of what they write is so patently absurd. The part of the text where they describe the difference between Menard’s Quixote and Cervantes’ is ridiculous, but also at the same time excellent satire of literary criticism.
I have some prompts (of course!) but I wanted to say, first of all, that I don’t mind if you want to write as if Menard is a real person, or as if he’s entirely fictional, or as if the author of the text thinks he’s real but he’s actually fictional... in other words, feel free to continue blurring the lines between fact and fiction as much as you’d like!
Some prompts/ideas:
- The author of the text seems to have been friends with Menard - I’d love to see letters they wrote to one another, where Menard talks about his literary projects, his friendships, or maybe something else. Perhaps they were even closer than friends?
- What if the author of the text is Menard himself? Perhaps he’s faked his own death in order to reinvent himself even more as the author of the Quixote? I would love to read a Borges-style report or text about this coming to light or Menard leaving clues to his true identity while continuing to work on his text.
- In general, I’d love to read some articles or text snippets about Menard and his various works. Maybe newspaper articles, reviews, letters between the acquaintances and friends mentioned in the text, etc?
Fandom-specific things I would love: blurring the lines between reality and fiction, crack played straight, world building, Borgesian style, mentions of the different things Menard tries to do in order to become the author of the Quixote
Fandom-specific things I wouldn't enjoy so much: anything that’s just total ‘sugar high’-style crack
---
The Witcher
Characters requested: Ciri, Geralt, Regis
Signup details: My introduction to The Witcher was played the 3rd game, and since then I’ve also read all the books, including the most recent one. I haven’t played the first or second game, so I’d really prefer to read a fic set during or after the third game. Including book canon is fine too!
This game, and the entire world that Geralt lives in, just drew me in so much. The world-building is incredible, and the characters are so three-dimensional. I love that the game puts the player in such genuine moral quandaries, where it’s often not at all clear what will lead to the best outcome, or if any of the outcomes will truly be positive.
I picked Ciri, Geralt, and Regis because those are the characters I enjoyed the most in the game, but I’m very happy for not all of them to be featured in the story (as long as you include Geralt!), or for other characters to be included as well. I love the dynamics between Geralt and Ciri, especially in the game ending where he brings her her sword and she joins the path of a Witcher: he wants to look out for her but also support her in fighting for her place in the world. I love Geralt and Regis’ friendship too, and I’m very happy for you to explore a romance between them if you want to!
Some prompts:
- Any kind of case!fic or monster-of-the-week style plot with Geralt plus Ciri and/or Regis would be awesome. I’d especially love to see some Geralt h/c along the way, where Ciri and Regis eventually realize he needs help and have to fix him up.
- Geralt and Ciri go on the road and get caught up in another intrigue or someone else’s plot, and have to fight/scheme their way out - bonus points for affectionate bickering as they work out how to work together as partners
- Geralt and Regis friendship fic - maybe Regis helps Geralt work out how to be retired? I imagine that Geralt isn’t very good at it!
Fandom-specific things I would love: appearances from other characters from the game and its expansions, places from the game mentioned with identifiable details (so locations of buildings in Novigrad, for example), background Geralt/Yennefer (unless you’re explicitly shipping him with someone else)
Fandom-specific things I wouldn't enjoy so much: Relationship drama between Geralt and Yennefer due to him sleeping with someone else (after reading the books I’m fairly done with this as a plot point!), Geralt/Ciri, Ciri/Regis, Geralt/more than one person in the same story.
---
So, thanks again, and I hope my requests haven't scared you off altogether! Definitely take everything I've written here as a suggestion to start off your creative process, not anything prescriptive at all - if you get an awesome idea when reading this, but it doesn't match any particular prompt, then go for it. I'm sure I will love it :D If anything here is really confusing, or you want to know more about my preferences that I've missed/forgotten here, then totally feel free to get in touch via the mods or through commenting anonymously here. I am really looking forward to reading your story, and I know if you love any one of these fandoms you must be an awesome person, so I'm really happy we were matched!
Good luck, and happy Yuletide,
Anna/mk_tortie