Yuletide '19

[dust_motes]

General Stuff | DNWs & Clarifications | Coldfire Trilogy | Deus Ex | King Arthur: Legend of the Sword | A Song for Arbonne

Dear Yuletide Writer!

I'm so happy we're meeting here! Thank you for offering my fandoms, having a look at this letter, and, most importantly, writing for me. I included some general likes and fandom-specific thoughts and prompts, should you find reading about them useful. And in case you'd want to write me porn, there's also a list of kinks. I’m @dust_motes.ao3 on AO3 and here's my exchange letters tag, if you wanted to poke around and see what else I may like, but don't stress too much over it; I love all my fandoms and chosen characters so ridiculously much I'm sure that as long as you avoid my DNWs and maybe include one or two of my likes, I'll be happy with anything you'll write me.

Some of the sections of this letter are longer than the others; it isn't an indication of how much I want to receive any given fandom, just a failure of imagination to come up with inspiring prompts on my part.

GENERAL STUFF
(likes, shipfic, tropes, kinks)

General likes:

• violence. Not necessarily for violence's sake, but every character I requested has some baggage: they either were a victim of violence or their job requires they inflict it upon others or they simply are a shitty, violent person -- I like it when fic about them acknowledges those things
• complicated relationships (between requested characters; between a character and their past; between a character and what they choose to do for their loved ones)
• unhealthy coping mechanisms (sex, cigarettes, and seeking out dangerous situations to get into a fight and release some steam are my top three, but alcohol and reacreational drug use work perfectly fine, too. And if you have some other ideas, I'm dying to hear about them!)
• dark humor
• shipfic. Details are below, but before you delve into those, I just wanted to say: I obviously enjoy shipfic, I prompt shipfic for every requested fandom and with the exception of Deus Ex, I don't explicitly prompt gen -- it would be silly to pretend I don't, like, really enjoy shipfic. That said, if none of my ships work for you, don't worry about it, you won't ruin my Yuletide by writing me genfic. I adore those characters, I'll be happy with backstory bits or friendship bits or exploration of some of their flaws.

In regards to whether I prefer character-driven or plot-driven stories: I love both. Plotty casefic is great, but so are character studies and everything in-between. Write what fits your idea the best!

Shipfic likes:

• people breaking social norms to be with the other person because they want them so much
• people doing terrible things for love and having to live with the consequences of their actions
• bonding in extreme circumstances
• getting together
• codependency and us-against-the-world dynamic
• sex first, feelings later; mutual pining while having what they think of as casual sex; mutual pining in general, especially if there really exist outside circumstances that make entering the relationship A Terrible Idea
• love confessions at the worst possible time or, on the contrary, quietly acknowledging in a completely mundane situation they've been in love for a long-ass time
• almost dying, injuries, wound-dressing, desperately trying to stem haemorrhage, stuff like this. I have a massive blood kink so even mentions of things like split lips while kissing, bloodied knuckles after a fight, nosebleeds from exertion will make me extremely happy
• infidelity of the "cheating to be together" variety
• killing for each other
• compromising one's values for the other person
• battle couples fighting together

Tropes likes:

• accidental soul-bond, especially if they have to stay within X feet of each other and it’s The Worst
• undercover as a couple

Narrative likes:
(Feel free to ignore them if you'd rather write a story with a classic narrator and a linear plot—I love those too, I just wanted to make it explicit I'm down with some commonly-DNW'ed things)

• non-linear narratives
• 2nd person POV
• outsider POV in shipfic
• interactive fiction

Smut likes:

• switching
• desperate sex
• non-penetrative sex
• biting
• rough sex (especially if counterpointed by unexpected moments of tenderness)
• barebacking
• rimming, felching, truly excessive amounts of come
• size kink (and hole training. Not fisting, though. No, I don't understand either how my mind works)
• face-fucking
• toys. Character A sucking off Character B while fucking themselves open on a Very Big Dildo or being fucked by a fucking machine
• knife-play and blood-play (see above wrt to my massive blood kink)
• post-battle/post-mission sex while they're covered in the blood of their enemies
• sparring leading to fucking
• arguing leading to fucking
• clothed sex, frotting
• wall sex & desk sex
• sex in semi-public spaces (but please, no getting caught. I'm historically not great with secondhand embarrassment)

DNWs & CLARIFICATIONS

DNWs:

• death of any of the requested characters. If the death is canon, fix-its are always welcome, as is setting your some time before the death and not mentioning what happens after
• AUs other than canon-divergence. In particular don't make my requested characters work a safer work, lead a normal life, retire to lead a normal life and such-like
• 100% bleak and unhappy ending. Open but hopeful are fine and welcome
• non-con and non-canon rape in backstories of requested characters. Something-made-them-do-it falls more on a dub-con side for me and is fine as long as the couple in question were attracted to each other before and get together after
• unrequested relationships for requested characters. In shipfic, hook-ups with strangers before my ship gets together are fine. Background relationships of other characters are always fine. Mentions of requested characters' past relationships are also fine as long as they are not the focus of the fic
• unrequited feelings between requested characters
• permanent break-up of my requested ships. Temporary break-up and getting back together is great
• poly and/or open relationships
• 24/7 D/s relationships
• A/B/O
• identity headcanons other than writing presumably straight characters as gay or bi
• underage relationships
• 1st person narration

Note on dealing with canon relationships: if my requested ship breaks up a canon couple, I'm fine with there being no mention of the canon LI without any explanation. AUs where the canon couple broke up or never got together are also great. And, as mentioned above, I do like infidelity of the "cheating to be together" variety, so requested character A cheating on their canon partner with requested character B and getting together with them after is fine as well

MY FANDOMS

Coldfire Trilogy
characters: Gerald Tarrant, Damien Vryce
ships I like: Gerald/Damien

Coldfire was probably the first canon I consumed and was immediately fannish about (as in, I wanted Gerald and Damien to bone) and despite it aging quite badly in the twenty or so years since I read it, it still holds a very special place in my heart. Gerald/Damien is definitely my OG enemies to reluctant allies to lovers ship and as such, it influenced my id in truly amazingly massive ways. Below I list some prompts that have been kicking around in my head latelt, but if those are uninspiring, feel free to explore their canon relationship in any way you see fit.

Prompts:

• I'd be curious to see how diffrent life in Jaggonath would be if the Hunter hunted not only young and beautiful women but everybody else as well
• Maybe Ciani doesn’t get attacked and therefore the plot doesn’t kick off like it does in canon. Damien gets stuck in Jaggonath and does indeed try to hunt down the Hunter. It doesn’t go as expected
• Amoril’s POV on everything, but especially Tarrant’s courtship of Damien Vryce, would be equally hilarious and disturbing and I'm here for this. I do love Amoril even though he is the greatest tool in a canon full of great tools
• Damien is Done with humanity after the ending of When True Night Falls; Tarrant has been waiting for this shift since they met. Yes, it's a seduction to the dark side prompt

Deus Ex
characters: Adam Jensen, Jim Miller
ships I like: Adam/Jim, Jim/David Sarif, Jim/OMCs, Jim/Neil

Fandom specific DNW: please don't write Jim as anything but gay

My obsession with Deus Ex is still going strong! I requested Jim and Adam because they're mu OTP in this fandom, but if you want to write me a Jim-centric fic, I'm very fine with this; in this case Adam doesn't have to -- but of course can -- appear in it.

Jim-centric
Literally anything about Jim's backstory would make me happy: how being a sniper and his supposedly high body count changed him, how he met Neil (and the slow deterioration of their marriage, if you want to go there), Jim and his kids, Jim in the aftermath of his divorce. (Yes, Jim's my fave here, how did you guess?)

Jim/Sarif
I have a specific scenario in mind -- so specific, in fact, that I almost chickened out of requesting it, but then I thought, It's Yuletide, it's a once-in-a-year opportunity to ask for the weirdest desires of your heart -- so feel free to disregard it, obviously. But: a fic where Sarif's not very happy that Adam moved on so seemingly well from SI and decides to deal with it by seducing Adam's new boss would be amazing. I kind of see it as a short-term thing ending with Jim dumping him for Adam, but I'm down to be surprised here.

Jim/Adam
Ill-advised boss/subordinate relationships are my number one drug of choice when it comes to office romance—for a given value of romance, of course. I can hardly imagine either of them in a rom-com ;)—so feel free to lean on as heavily as you want to on the unethicalness of fucking your direct supervisor/subordinate, especially on the force, where Jim sometimes really has his team's lives in his hands. If you want to throw in even more obstacles that I will eat up with a spoon:

• maybe Jim was still trying to patch things up with Neil when he met Adam? Cue inconvenient attraction and mountains of guilt and disappointment in himself, and if they were too fuck while Jim was still married, all the better for me
• maybe Adam has never been attracted to a man before and he has some conflicted feelings about it? I do like good old-fashion grappling with one's sexuality story!
• one of them is presumed dead and the other has to pretend not to care except for a socially acceptable level of mourning for a boss/subordinate while DYING inside
• Adam's attraction to Jim making Alex worried. Jim Miller may not be a trustworthy man, Adam! You need to stay objective! You don't know him at all! (And Adam agrees, of course he does. And yet)
• undercover together is always fun and this pairing is especially well-suited to the shenanigans of this kind. As a couple, as a client/bodyguard, whatever else you can imagine
• time travel fix it: Adam saves Allison and therefore doesn't obtain the antidote; after London he knows exactly what he'd need to save Jim

On a softer side:

• Adam gets a dog. Jim takes care of it when Adam inevitably lands himself in some serious trouble and can't for some time

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
characters: Vortigern, Uther, Mercia (for shipfic purposes: Mercia doesn't have to appear in a Vortigern/Uther fic; Uther doesn't have to appear in a Vortigern/Mercia one. If sibling incest and messad up loyalty are not your things and you want to write me genfic about Vortigern, neither of the other characters has to appear in the fic)
ships I like: Vortigern/Uther, Vortigern/Mercia

Oh man, this canon! It's a glorious mess and Vortigern is a glorious mess of a character, too! Obsessive, jealous, convinced of his own greatness, extremely compelling. I love him to bits. I love that he almost wins in the movie (and would love an AU where he wins for real. Sorry, Arthur), I love that he sacrifices those he loves without hesitation, even though he does truly love them, I love that if he changes, it's only for worse. Feel free to ignore my unrequited feelings DNW and my desire to see my ship together at the end of the fic in this case, canon really lends itself to darker takes here.

Vortigern/Uther
That hug at the beginning of the movie spoke beautifully to my id and I was doomed. I ship them so hard, oh my god. Any backstory exploration for them would be amazing (what was their father like? Did he favor Uther? What made them forget the taboo if they acted on their attraction?), and I have some AUs ideas as well:

• unrequited Vortigern -> Uther situation where it's exactly Vortigern's incestuous desireand jealous that push him to act against Uther would be terribly sad and fitting. I'm here for it
• I can easily imagine that they were very codependent as children, but grew apart as Uther started taking on more and more of kingly duties. I can't imagine Vortigern liked that very much. Rough, angry, claiming sex following would be a perfect bonus
• thwarted assassination attempts! I have a thing for assassinations in general, but it would particularly amazing for these two. Did Uther save Vortigern's life while knowing full well that he's brother a dangerous, evil man who may bring downfall on them all? Did Vortigern save Uther's life because he couldn't let anyone else touch his brother? Did they fight back to back, sword and magic? Tell me everything!
• seduction to the dark side! Over time, Vortigern manages to chip away at Uther's moral values and when the time comes and their father dies (or maybe they kill him together? That would be terrible and great, too!), they both ascend to the throne to rule together. Maybe they change the laws so that they can legally marry? Is Vortigern as terrible a king in this scenario as he's in canon, or does Uther's influence make him a bit more mellow?

Vortigern/Mercia
This one was unexpected, I gotta admit. But Mercia is just so unwaveringly loyal to Vortigern, so damn devoted, that I couldn't help but start shipping them.

Prompts:

• I would love a fic where Vortigern grows to truly care for Mercia over the time of his reign. It doesn't mean much, obviously he'd sacrifice him in an instant if that's what it took, but on his not-so-great days Vortigern can admit, if only to himself, that he really rather hopes he won't have to
• or maybe Mercia knows he doesn't mean anything to Vortigern and he never will, but Vortigern sometimes lets him suck him off in the throne room and seriously, this is enough. (This is not enough at all.)
• this is rare -- and obviously exempt from my 'please no setting-changing AUs' DNW -- but I would also love a modern low stakes, high drama AU for them. Vortigern is so petty that his character would be phenomenal in this kind of scenario. Maybe he really, really wants to run the family's bakery after his and Uther's father retires and he won't hesitate to sabotage Uther's chances at every turn, but in the end what matters most is the he wins the heart of a lowly employee? But anything works, really!

A Song for Arbonne
characters: Blaise of Gorhaut, Rudel Correze
ships I like: Blaise/Rudel

If you took a peek at my past exchange letters and concluded, wow, this person must really love assassins, I gotta say, yes, you are correct, and Rudel Correze is the sole reason for that.

These two are so great! I love Kay's writing in general, but I don't tend to be very fannish about it; the only true OTP he's ever given me is Blaise/Rudel. I love their backstory and that the book opens with Blaise thinking of Rudel, that they briefly end on opposing sides, and that Rudel choses Blaise in the end and stays loyal to him. I'm heartbroken that fic about them doesn't seem to exist at all and as such, anything about them would make me happy -- which, I know, terrible prompting.

Some pointers if you'd like them:

• pre-canon backstory where they meet/train together/kill together? Check
• overcoming internalized homophobia to be together? Check
• post-canon story where Blaise, as the king of Gorhaut, needs a trusted assassin to, you know, carry out his will, and Rudel follows him there? Check
• reincarnation story set in Fionavar? Check, check, check

And that's it. I hope my ramblings were helpful to you, dear writer, and that you'll have amazing Yuletide, both as a recip and as an author. If any clarification is needed, I'll happily answer any question you will send through the mods!