Dear Yuletide Writer 2021

[simonlorden]

Hi there! First of all, thank you so much for considering to write for me! I hope this letter will be of some help.

My ao3 name is simonlorden!

Fandoms:

• October Daye
• Murderbot Diaries
• Ghost Roads / Sparrow Hill Road

LOVE:

• found family, romance/shippy stuff, humour, snark, the comfort part of hurt/comfort, polyamory.
  
• time travel! this is specific, but i kind of love the idea of a character meeting their future self and being shocked at being told stuff they never thought would happen (especially if the stuff is good, though.)
• I'm okay with incest, underage or teen/adult fics, if that is something you're interested in writing.
• canon-divergent AUs that don't change the setting, e.g. "what would happen if X character did Y thing differently"
• accidental baby acquisition. I'm just putting this out there.
• MUTUAL PINING
• cats.

PREFERENCES:

• third person preferred, but first person is fine, especially if canon is in first person. NO second person please.
• past or present tense equally fine. i guess future tense would be fine?? never read a fic like that.
• I would love under-1000-words poetry or drabbles as treats!

DNW:

• character death (except like, minor nameless characters). temporary character death is fine as long as they come back fast and there isn't much focus on the grief.
• any mention of covid, real-world politics, real-world issues e.g. racism or homophobia (slightly more okay with "fantasy racism" e.g. being racist again a fictional race, but mentions only please).
• cheating, or even significant jealousy. i'm a huge fan of consensual polyamory and being happy for your partner being happy with others, so i'm just really not into these. I'd also like to avoid comments where characters state that they would "never want to share"/"can't imagine sharing".
  
• Christmas-centric fic.
  
• heavy angst or sad endings - references to canon angst is fine as long as the overall tone is hopeful/good ending.
• suicidal thoughts or mentions of suicide attempts, even if they fit canon. also avoid self-harm involving cutting.
  
• unrequested setting-change AUs, e.g. coffee shop AUs, no-magic AUs, etc
• gore, heavy violence.
• detailed pregnancy with any gender (offscreen pregnancy or kids existing is fine if applicable).
• A/B/O.

SMUT LIKES: 

• enthusiastic cunnilingus.
• light bondage, like handcuffs or wrists tied with scarves.
• semi-public sex where there's a danger of getting caught (but no actual getting caught pls, unless the person catching them joins in).
• i also like my smut with characterization, feelings, and banter. smut where it's clear that the characters actually like each other and care about each other is great (though not always applicable).
• enthusiastic consent is good! ironically, dubious consent is also good, if you prefer that route. something like both people wanting it but being in denial, or consent under false pretenses, etc
• men getting pegged. also strap-ons in lesbian sex

SMUT DNWs:

• The safest is probably to stick with vanilla smut + my 'likes' list if you're writing any, please. But feel free to contact me through a mod if in doubt.
• Some things I absolutely do not want: watersports/scat, heavy bdsm or violence even if consensual.

Ghost Roads

Characters: Rose Marshall

I am in love with Rose Marshall and I would love to see another episode of her not-quite-life. Just some ideas/suggestions: 

- Rose helping and saving people. Bonus points for other young people, e.g. runaway teens or such. 

- I adored the scene of Rose just getting to have fun at the carnival, so I'd love something like that. Let her try fun things and maybe make friends! 

- Rose being known as an angel for those on the road instead of something scary. i.e more "Graveyard Rose" feeling than the other legends. https://seananmcguire.com/songbook.php?id=79 

- Crossovers with other Seanan stuff, including songs. (Incryptid excluded, since it's not really a "crossover" and I haven't read any of it.) But I'd love to see Rose meet anyone from October Daye (maybe hanging out with the teen/young adult squad who are on a road trip? an AU where Toby really tried to run away to New York pre-canon? just don't make any of them die pls), or maybe one of the characters from Dear Gina? Lots of dead people in that song. https://genius.com/Seanan-mcguire-dear-gina-lyrics 

- I'm not really looking for PWP for Yuletide, but some smut is fine if you're writing Rose having casual sex with a driver on the road or something along those lines.
- Original characters are also more than welcome, obviously. 

Fandom DNW: Please no big story spoilers for Incryptid or the Sparrow Hill Road sequels, I only read the first book. (Also, for the same reason, feel free to contradict canon events in Incryptid - it's not like I'm gonna notice.) Some horror elements are acceptable for this request, but nothing too gory or explicit please.

Murderbot Diaries

Characters: Amena & Iris

I don’t have huge prompts here, I’d just love to get something with these two. Platonic or romantic relationship is equally fine. 

Some suggestions: Amena going to the university, studying together, being exasperated over ART and Murderbot being Like That together, raising/teaching a brand new AI together. (No, really, raising the AI would be fun. Like one of those fake-parenting assignments with the fake babies, only these babies are not fake, just non-human.) Teaching Three about humans together. Amena showing Iris around her home. If you want to go more plotty, you can also write about them being on a mission and working together/being clever and badass (I would like something more humorous than overly serious, but we know from Murderbot that you can combine the two.)

I'm fine with non-nominated (or non-requested) characters showing up. I'm happy to see the rest of the crew, and of course Murderbot and ART, whose relationship is my favorite. I'm fine with them being romantic in their own way if you wanna go that route, but I'm just as fine with their queerplatonic-type relationship.

DNW: I'd prefer not to get smut for my main gift, but if someone happens to write a treat, smut is more than welcome for that.

October Daye

Characters: Simon “Torquill”

I would like Simon and platonic relationships, please.

Suggestion 1: Kids, defined loosely, e.g.: January, April, Raysel, Dean and Peter, Gillian, Quentin, Chelsea, OC kids, and Toby and August and May obviously. Basically just Simon getting to be parental or mentoring someone. (Check below for prompts. I would love to see January, April or Raysel since we don't see them a lot, but anyone is fine.) I would also accept Simon interacting with/babysitting Toby and Tybalt's future kids, but in that case, they have to be kittens for at least part of the fic. It's law.

Suggestion 2: Anything pre-canon (!) with Sylvester, September or their parents. 

I'm a Patreon subscriber, so info from any of those stories is fair game to include (including the upcoming November and December ones, if they end up being relevant - I'll try my best to read them by reveals, just in case).

DNW:

• Please don't make this a romantic ship-centric fic. (Lorden ot3 and other background ships are more than welcome as long as the platonic relationships are in the center.)
• Please limit Oleander, Eira and Amandine to mentions, if at all. I'm aware they exist but I don't want to see them.
• This is a bit specific, but please avoid comments by characters (especially by Toby and Tybalt) about how they would never consider "sharing"/polyamory. I don't expect you to write them in a poly relationship either, just don't shut down the possibility like that please.
• Please avoid any references to suicide and self-harm involving cutting. (Cutting for blood magic purposes is fine, as long as it's not too detailed, and the intent isn't self-harm. canon-typical blood or injury is fine in small amounts, but no detailed descriptions please.)
  

Things I love about Simon: How far he's come. How much he loves his family, his daughters. How he's finally, finally safe and happy. How nerdy he is, loves learning, loves teaching, loves rambling on and on about obscure stuff. How, unlike other people, he's actually willing to talk with love about the people he lost long ago. How he just really wants to wear nice clothes.

Toby Daye Prompts:

For the kids: Simon with January or April - I could see Simon being interested in tech and April teaching him about new stuff. Maybe even Simon meeting baby Rayseline for the first time, his brother's long-awaited pride and joy. (Would he be thinking of his own child, still lost and still not found? Heck, I'll take a fic about Simon's conflicted feelings when he's forced to kidnap Raysel.) Simon getting to know Dean and/or Peter, maybe giving them advice either as a parent or as a more experienced noble/diplomat? Simon mentoring Quentin and/or Dean in Daoine Sidhe blood magic. You can also write Simon interacting with any of Toby's horde of teens, including Gillian, Quentin, Chelsea... OC kids with his new spouses are also okay. Something with August, either from the past, or after they finally have each other back. Anything with October, either in the present, or an accidental meeting at Shadowed Hills when she's a kid, or an AU where Simon raised her as her father. Bonding with May or August! Also feel free to make it a big chaotic family dinner with a lot of characters or something, if that is something you enjoy writing. 

For siblings & parents: Pretty much anything. I’d love to see somebody’s take on what the brothers’ relationship was like back in London or when they first moved to America. This is probably the part where I’d be most okay with seeing Amandine since it’s kinda hard to avoid her in that time, but please keep her to mentions if possible.

For side/background ship: First of all I love polyamory, so feel free to include several of these at the same time (or none. that's fine too, these are just suggestions.) Quentin/Dean is great. Quentin/Raj is also great. Gillian/Dean and Gillian/Chelsea are my big rarepairs that I adore. Raysel/August is my biggest rarepair, and I would be overjoyed to get something with Simon reacting to /that/, but I know this is a long shot so don't worry about it. Canon background relationships are fine (I love Toby/Tybalt and Etienne/Bridget for example), but no Walther/Cassandra if possible.