Dear Yuletide Writer
Hello! Thank you so much for writing for me. I hope you find something here that helps a little bit in figuring out what you want to do.
As a general rule, these are the things I enjoy:
1. Canon compliance. I tend to enjoy things which fit within or around the events of the source. This is probably the thing I enjoy reading the most. However, I also like:
2. Canon-divergent AUs. What if something went a slightly different way during the events of the source? I'm all over that, too.
3. Friendships. Characters interacting positively, enjoying time together. I particularly enjoy seeing backstory for character friendships. How did they become friends? What were they like when they were younger, etc
4. Missing moments.
5. Canon ships (unless otherwise indicated). I have a tendency to ship canon or likely-to-be-canon ships, so if you want to write shippy fic I'm more likely to enjoy reading about already existing couples.
6. Angst which ends happily, or fluff which ends slightly bittersweet. Fluffy fluff throughout is also welcome.
7. Character studies.
Things I don't enjoy:
1. Death
2. Unrelenting angst - I'm fine if something is angsty and ends with that unresolved so long as there's been some light patches throughout. Humour in the midst of angst is always welcome.
3. Nonconsensual (or dubiously consensual) sex. I don't mind sex, but I prefer it to make sense for the characters and have some relevance to the plot.
4. Incest.
5. Infidelity.
Nothing Much To Do
I'm happy with pretty much anything in this fandom. I enjoy the friendships between all the characters, not just those nominated, so I'm happy with whatever you decide to write. The only pairing I dislike is post-birthday Hero/Claudio so feel free to write anything else, though I do have a particular fondness for Peter/Balthazar.
As far as prompts go, I'm fascinated particularly by what got these characters together - how did they become friends (we know the Peter/Pedro- Bea friendship origin story, but none of the others)? What was it like in the Donaldson household growing up? Or, what about the Jones House? How were Hero and Bea as kids? What changed to make Balthazar and Pedro closer friends in Year 12? How did Ben become good friends with Balthazar when they're so different? Basically, either backstory or missing moments would be excellent.
Obviously if we're talking Donaldson family, then infidelity is a big consideration in their backstory and that's fine. I would like characters to be in their appropriate years at school. So, in 2014 we had Hero, Meg, Ursula and Claudio in Year 12, and Ben, Bea, Pedro/Peter and Balthazar in Year 13. John? No idea, but younger than his brother. Obviously most of those aren't in the character list, but if you want to use them to add flavour to the story please try to have them in the correct year.
Raven Cycle
I particularly enjoy the friendship between these four boys, though I'm happy to have Blue and her family involved too. I like how different the boys are and yet how well they work as a group, so missing moments and/or backstory on them would be wonderful. For example, what is life like at school? We see the occasional class, but what about the rest? What were the boys like before they met Blue? I'm also fascinated by how 'special' each boy is and how those aspects of them work to make a coherent group. Basically, I'd love to see these characters interacting. They spread joy just by hanging out together in all their angsty, slighty weird glory.
If you're looking at pairings, I like Ronan/Adam and Blue/Gansey, though I'm open to other things as well.
Vorkosigan Saga
I'm basically just fascinated by this world. We see so much of it from Miles's PoV that it would be lovely to see the world through someone else's eyes. Given that, I'd be happy to see either some of the major events from the series from some else's PoV or a look outside of the things Miles sees. Miles is such a disruptive infuence on the world that it would be great to see his actions from a distance and watch the ripples happen, but I'm also interested in anything which just opens up some of the planets we see in passing in the series. One of the things I like most about the world is that while it involves enjoyable plots, it is also so character-focused, so I'd prefer character pieces rather than plotty space battles, though plotty space battles and/or visits to other planets which also involves developing characters would be amazingly wonderful too.
Reservoir Dogs
I'm really interested in the relationship between these guys. The animosity between White and Pink is interesting, and I'd love to see where that came from (did they meet on a previous job? Was it something in one of the meetings for this job? etc). The relationship between White and Orange is an interesting contrast and again it would be good to see more of the development. Contrasting the two could also be interesting - why did White decide to bond with Orange and not Pink? I don't mind what you do really, I just enjoy seeing these guys interact and seeing what it is about each which draws them to each other (or keeps them at a distance).
Bright Star
I love these two characters together. I love their connection and the way they act and react around each other. I'd be really interested in some missing moments and/or more letters between the two, but basically anything which develops the relationship between them is fabulous. I really enjoy the heightened tenson between them, even when they are far apart from each other, so some development of that would be great. Given that he's a poet, weavng some of his poetic nature through their relationship and/or the writing would be awesome if that floats your boat.