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Yuletide Letter 2023
Oct. 19th, 2023 08:18 pmHello, dear creator! I am excited for this and hope there's something in here that's thrilling to you, too!
Some parts of this have been copied from previous letters, so if the wording seems familiar, it probably is. :)
Likes: I've asterisked likes that may not apply to all pairings.
I am fine with works featuring any combination of Blade, Claudia, and Querida, but I would ask that Querida not be shipped with anyone.
Blade/Claudia
I like this pairing a lot -- I think they're a great match for each other. Blade is intuitive and empathetic, and Claudia has this air of quiet wisdom about her. Their few interactions in canon are wonderfully characterized and hold so much promise for their future. I'd love this to be a slow burn romance with some danger and daring in it. A role reversal where Claudia ends up having to save Blade, or help Blade with a block on his magic, would be great.
I love Querida, I think she's fantastic, I'd love to see her included in some way. Maybe Claudia is an apprentice, helping her with the Wastes? I think Querida and Claudia would get along well.
Likes/dislikes special notes: I'd rather this pairing stay fairly vanilla rather than getting into the kinks too much. Anything asterisked in my likes above is probably not applicable here.
Querida
Like I said: I love Querida, I think she's spectacular. Would love to read about her getting up to an adventure on her own -- pre-Chesney or post-Year of the Griffin. A conspiracy in the Wastes? A summons to the other continent? Simply hanging out with her cats? Totally up to you!
Blade & Querida or Claudia & Querida
I think either of these characters would flourish with Querida as a mentor. I'd like to see Claudia improving her self-confidence in herself and her magic, or Querida pushing Blade to consider new avenues of power -- Blade works on instinct so much, and it would be interesting to see him grapple with Querida's (somewhat) more deliberate approach.
Ring Freddie & Father Dolmayan
In the world of Armored Core 6, Ring Freddie and Father Dolmayan are both members of the Rubicon Liberation Front. They've caught my attention for a couple reasons. Father Dolmayan sounds like a communist-Megatron (IDW, specifically the More Than Meets the Eye comic books) type and possibly even a priestly figure. It's implied in some of his logs that he also has had dealings with Ayre. And Ring Freddie's arena bio caught my eye: "Paramour and personal attendant to Dolmayan, Freddie maintains an aloof distance from his fellow comrades. An admirer of the inner world of Dolmayan's mind, he entered the battlefield so that the father of the Liberation Front would never need be alone."
I'd be interested in their relationship -- what does that look like in the brutal AC6 worldbuilding? How did Ring Freddie come to follow him onto the battlefield? What's the symbolism of Ring Freddie's candle ring emblem?
Strayed & Oldking
In Armored Core: For Answer (AC4A), Strayed is the player character and Oldking is a member of the radical group ORCA, and leader of the even more radical subgroup Liliana (before its collapse). In one of the endings available upon replaying the game, Oldking incites Strayed to fell the Cradles, massive airships that allow tens of millions of people to live above the heavily polluted surface of Earth -- although the pollution caused by the Cradles will someday make even the upper atmosphere unlivable.
Of course, we don't know what living conditions look like for Lynx pilots -- something on the surface with a lot of janky and half-superstitious pollution protection, maybe? -- but I've wondered if Strayed and Oldking might've crossed paths outside the arena or before the Cradle 03 mission. I'd be interested in a mentor/student relationship, or in the aftermath of destroying Cradle 03. Feel free to get dark & fucked up with this prompt.
Nairn and Declan
The relationship between these two fascinates me. They are so acrimonious towards each other a lot of the time -- they begin with a betrayal -- and yet, they seem drawn towards each other. So much of Nairn's life is defined by his relationship with Declan and vice versa. "How did you know where I'd find you?" / "Where else could you go?" There's the seeds of a May/December romance here (Well. May/October. Declan is in his 50s, I think); something fraught with their past history, their attraction to the same woman, their exploration of the same power. I like how Declan seems to exist outside Nairn's ordinary relationships.
Nairn, Declan, & Welkin
See above, but with the addition of a powerful catalyst. Welkin possesses the secret power that both Nairn and Declan long to possess. It adds a fascinating new dynamic to their relationship. And there's this excerpt, which reads like the start of a menage a trois of some kind --
She's such a great character -- down-to-earth, archeological interests, etc. Would love to see an exploration of where her story goes after the end of the book, either with the Cle family or taking her own path.
I love what Wrath Goddess Sing did with the story of Achilles, and I am SO thirsty for the equivalent work for the biblical Joseph (Maya Deane write a prequel challenge), so would love to have any snippets along those lines. Kiya was a real historical figure -- one of Akhenaten's wives who was later erased from monuments, although we don't know why. I'd love anything that deals with Kiya's dreams, what we know of Kiya the historical figure, Kiya's relationship with Akhenhaten and Nefertiti, etc.
Some parts of this have been copied from previous letters, so if the wording seems familiar, it probably is. :)
General likes
In fics, I typically like a balance of character work and interesting worldbuilding tidbits -- it's lovely when an author draws on the depth and richness of the work's setting and uses that to illuminate character choices.- Pining and particularly mutual pining. I adore a good sense of longing.
- Enemies-to-lovers
- Slow burn (sexually); slow burn (emotionally); slow burn emotionally while quick burn sexually.
- Two people having casual sex as a way of ignoring or minimizing their very serious feelings for each other. Also mixes well with pining!
- Similarly, fuck-or-die scenarios where the "or die" is very real but also a convenient excuse
- Labyrinths -- real, imaginary, metaphorical, fractal, inhabited, abandoned, etc. Nothing I love more than a good maze.
- Unreality -- dreams, visions, etc. Done sparingly, these can work to great effect.
- Playing with power dynamics in both healthy and unhealthy ways. I love a situation that's deeply fucked up but both parties are getting something good out of it.
- Smut that also does character work
- Repression, as long as it's not due to internalized homophobia
- Canon divergence AUs: exploring how the situation might be different if minor factors were changed
DNWs
- The "cozy" trend, therapy language, "this character was right to behave in a selfish way all along because they have trauma", "all this character's problems will be fixed if we have a cuddle pile in the blanket fort"
- Common modern AUs (coffee shop, high school, tattoo parlor, etc) -- I've requested all fandoms because I like the settings and think there are interesting things to do with the worldbuilding.
- AUs in general but in particular, soulmate / soulmark AUs
- Extensive family conflict. Fine if a character has an argument with their mom or sets off on an adventure to be away from family; less fine if the entire fic revolves around hashing something out with intimate family members.
- I'm not a big found family person. Fine to have a group of unrelated people who are distanced from their families find support in each other; less fine for the fic's focus be on that exclusively.
- "Coming out" narratives. Again, fine to have a character go "Hey, I'm gay" and then dip immediately; less fine if the entire fic revolves around the social experience of coming out and dealing with resultant homophobia.
- "The love that dare not speak its name" type of repression, or using that phrase or similar ones for explaining a character's reluctance to homosexuality, unless the story is set in the late 19th - early 20th century (it is specifically an artifact of Victorian-era indecency laws)
- Religious evangelism of any type
- Non-canon character death
- Suicide / suicidal ideation
- Cheating / infidelity
- Extended negotiations re relationship or kink
- Internalized homophobia
- Scat, piss, menstrual blood, vomit
- Graphic descriptions of torture or violence. I am fine with these happening in a fic but I don't want a detailed description of how it felt or a "close-up" on a wound.
- Pregnancy, kidfic
- Issuefic, crackfic, sickfic, tooth-rotting fluff
- Amnesia
- A/B/O, Mpreg
- Anthro (were-beings fine), bestiality
- Unrequested genderswaps, unrequested trans headcanons, unrequested aro/ace headcanons
- Readerfic
NSFW likes/dislikes
See prompts for pairing-specific likes/dislikes!Likes: I've asterisked likes that may not apply to all pairings.
- Non-euphemistic wording (cock, dick, cunt, etc rather than hardness, slit, wetness, etc)
- Edging, orgasm control & denial*, desperation (physical or emotional)
- Sex pollen*, fuck-or-die scenarios*, similar forms of dubcon*
- Wank of Shame*
- Realistic blocking (you can follow where limbs are, sometimes someone gets an elbow to the stomach accidentally, etc)
- Femdom*
- Cis F receiving anal, anal fingering in general*, rimming
- First time (not first time with a specific partner, first time doing a particular sex act)*
- Safewording / safeword negotiations
- Aftercare*
- Daddy/mommy kink, breeding kink
- Intense D/s or roleplaying
- Degradation
- Assault / noncon
- Femsub
Derkholm
In addition to the character-specific prompts below, I'm really interested in this canon's setting and worldbuilding. The way magic, the gods, etc work is so flexible here!I am fine with works featuring any combination of Blade, Claudia, and Querida, but I would ask that Querida not be shipped with anyone.
Blade/Claudia
I like this pairing a lot -- I think they're a great match for each other. Blade is intuitive and empathetic, and Claudia has this air of quiet wisdom about her. Their few interactions in canon are wonderfully characterized and hold so much promise for their future. I'd love this to be a slow burn romance with some danger and daring in it. A role reversal where Claudia ends up having to save Blade, or help Blade with a block on his magic, would be great.
I love Querida, I think she's fantastic, I'd love to see her included in some way. Maybe Claudia is an apprentice, helping her with the Wastes? I think Querida and Claudia would get along well.
Likes/dislikes special notes: I'd rather this pairing stay fairly vanilla rather than getting into the kinks too much. Anything asterisked in my likes above is probably not applicable here.
Querida
Like I said: I love Querida, I think she's spectacular. Would love to read about her getting up to an adventure on her own -- pre-Chesney or post-Year of the Griffin. A conspiracy in the Wastes? A summons to the other continent? Simply hanging out with her cats? Totally up to you!
Blade & Querida or Claudia & Querida
I think either of these characters would flourish with Querida as a mentor. I'd like to see Claudia improving her self-confidence in herself and her magic, or Querida pushing Blade to consider new avenues of power -- Blade works on instinct so much, and it would be interesting to see him grapple with Querida's (somewhat) more deliberate approach.
Armored Core
I've nominated Father Dolmayan, Ring Freddie, Strayed, and Oldking, but these characters come from two separate games. I'd prefer no crossover between games -- so, a fic featuring Father Dolmayan and Ring Freddie, or a fic featuring Strayed and Oldking. Feel free to transgenderize any of these characters in any way that speaks to you.Ring Freddie & Father Dolmayan
In the world of Armored Core 6, Ring Freddie and Father Dolmayan are both members of the Rubicon Liberation Front. They've caught my attention for a couple reasons. Father Dolmayan sounds like a communist-Megatron (IDW, specifically the More Than Meets the Eye comic books) type and possibly even a priestly figure. It's implied in some of his logs that he also has had dealings with Ayre. And Ring Freddie's arena bio caught my eye: "Paramour and personal attendant to Dolmayan, Freddie maintains an aloof distance from his fellow comrades. An admirer of the inner world of Dolmayan's mind, he entered the battlefield so that the father of the Liberation Front would never need be alone."
I'd be interested in their relationship -- what does that look like in the brutal AC6 worldbuilding? How did Ring Freddie come to follow him onto the battlefield? What's the symbolism of Ring Freddie's candle ring emblem?
Strayed & Oldking
In Armored Core: For Answer (AC4A), Strayed is the player character and Oldking is a member of the radical group ORCA, and leader of the even more radical subgroup Liliana (before its collapse). In one of the endings available upon replaying the game, Oldking incites Strayed to fell the Cradles, massive airships that allow tens of millions of people to live above the heavily polluted surface of Earth -- although the pollution caused by the Cradles will someday make even the upper atmosphere unlivable.
Of course, we don't know what living conditions look like for Lynx pilots -- something on the surface with a lot of janky and half-superstitious pollution protection, maybe? -- but I've wondered if Strayed and Oldking might've crossed paths outside the arena or before the Cradle 03 mission. I'd be interested in a mentor/student relationship, or in the aftermath of destroying Cradle 03. Feel free to get dark & fucked up with this prompt.
The Bards of Bone Plain
I've nominated Nairn (aka Jonah Cle), Welkin (aka Kelda), and Declan, as well as Princess Beatrice. I am fine with works featuring Nairn, Welkin, and Declan; works featuring Nairn and Declan; and works featuring Princess Beatrice (with Jonah Cle as a bit participant).Nairn and Declan
The relationship between these two fascinates me. They are so acrimonious towards each other a lot of the time -- they begin with a betrayal -- and yet, they seem drawn towards each other. So much of Nairn's life is defined by his relationship with Declan and vice versa. "How did you know where I'd find you?" / "Where else could you go?" There's the seeds of a May/December romance here (Well. May/October. Declan is in his 50s, I think); something fraught with their past history, their attraction to the same woman, their exploration of the same power. I like how Declan seems to exist outside Nairn's ordinary relationships.
Nairn, Declan, & Welkin
See above, but with the addition of a powerful catalyst. Welkin possesses the secret power that both Nairn and Declan long to possess. It adds a fascinating new dynamic to their relationship. And there's this excerpt, which reads like the start of a menage a trois of some kind --
The two took a measure of one another briefly, silently, there on the threshold. Then Welkin smiled a tight smile framed by fanning lines, and Declan shifted so that he could enter.Princess Beatrice
Nairn asked uncertainly, “Do you want me to—”
“Stay,” both said at once, so he came into Declan’s work chamber.
She's such a great character -- down-to-earth, archeological interests, etc. Would love to see an exploration of where her story goes after the end of the book, either with the Cle family or taking her own path.
Wrath Goddess Sing
I've requested that Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Kiya all be included.I love what Wrath Goddess Sing did with the story of Achilles, and I am SO thirsty for the equivalent work for the biblical Joseph (Maya Deane write a prequel challenge), so would love to have any snippets along those lines. Kiya was a real historical figure -- one of Akhenaten's wives who was later erased from monuments, although we don't know why. I'd love anything that deals with Kiya's dreams, what we know of Kiya the historical figure, Kiya's relationship with Akhenhaten and Nefertiti, etc.
